SAFF Championship: We won’t change for Maldives, says Segrt

Afghanistan coach satisfied with team style ahead of top-of-the-table clash

Afghanistan coach Peter Segrt says his team won’t change their style of play when they face high-flying Maldives at the Trivandrum International Stadium in Kerala, India in their Group B encounter of the South Asian Football Federation Championship on Monday.

Segrt’s side dominated struggling Bhutan 3-0 on Saturday as a brace from Khaibar Amani and a goal from Masih Saighani was enough to take Afghanistan into the semi-finals and the Croatian coach is confident that his team would stick to their philosophy of playing attacking football in spite of the similarly attacking nature of their opponents.

“We like to play offensive football and we will not change our system for Maldives or India or anybody,” said the 49-year-old. “For me, I want to be first [in the group]. This is an easy and simple philosophy.”



Maldives boss Ricki Herbert, who saw his team snatch three points from Bangladesh in the dying minutes of the match in his side’s 3-1 win, believes that the mentality of his team and their never-say-die attitude would come in handy against the defending champions.

“We never say die. It doesn’t matter what the score is, we want to be a side that is incredibly competitive until the final whistle and that’s what we hope to see against Afghanistan as well,” said the New Zealander.

Afghanistan have the same points (6) as Maldives, but are ahead of the Red Snappers on goal difference. With both sides having already qualified for the semi-finals, the clash would be crucial in determining who finishes top of the group and faces a less daunting opponent in the semi-final.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2015.

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