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Thiruvananthapuram: Six days, nine matches and an astonishing 31 goals later, the SAFF Championship is out of its group stage. Semi-finals beckon four teams that have passed the test — India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan. It has been an exhilarating round of fixtures in the group stage, with an average of 3.4 goals scored per match. Defending champions Afghanistan have scored over a third of those goals — 11 in three games — and conceded just one.
It's Afghanistan's last SAFF Championships as they have now moved to the newly formed Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), and they want to finish on a high. But after a miserable World Cup qualifying campaign, hosts India will give their last inch to go all the way.

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India will now face Maldives in the first semi-final on 31 December after the 2008 SAFF champions lost 4-1 to Afghanistan in the final group B game. And though the Blue Tigers have momentum following their 4-1 thrashing of Nepal, Maldives have more than enough in them to pull off an upset and send India packing in their own backyard.

Sunil Chhetri in action during the SAFF Cup. PTI

Maldives did lose to Afghanistan by a big margin, but the score doesn't come close to illustrate how difficult they made it for them.  And Maldives had rested five key players, just like Afghanistan, including their sensational captain Ali Ashfaq.
"We chopped and changed the team quite a bit tonight. I'm not quite sure we'll concede four goals like that again, it was just one of those nights for me. The goals we conceded were poor, now our focus is on the semi-finals," Maldives coach Ricki Herbert said after the loss to Afghanistan.
Herbert didn't seem fazed by the prospect of facing the hosts and tougher opponents India in the semi-finals and was relishing the chance to take on the men in blue.
"I think it's going to be great, all the pressure's on them. They're hosting it, they'll want to win it. I think they need to win it," he said, deflecting the pressure on the Indian team.
Herbert, the former NorthEast United coach, is not wrong. The pressure is on India, especially after a dismal run in the World Cup Qualifiers. True, Constantine is building a young team and has given youngsters a chance to shine (under the Englishman's second spell, 22 Indian players in the space of 10 months have been handed their senior team debuts) but while that is remarkable and encouraging, the results matter. Everyone would fancy India to bring home the SAFF Cup. Even though he doesn't admit it, Constantine must be feeling the pressure.