National football coach Francesco Moriero has stated that the national team will approach SAFF Championship with a different mentality this time.

Speaking to the press at the pre-match conference in Bengaluru, Coach Moriero stated that the national team is ready for the SAFF Championship eventhough the team has not participated in any friendly matches.

"I believe this is a competitive tournament which will provide our players a great experience. Even without any friendly matches, the team is ready for the tournament. Our groups have competiive teams such as Lebanon. But we have worked on a lot of things and we are approaching this tournament with a different mentality. This is an important tournament for us," Coach Moriero said.

Maldives will be competing in Group B in SAFF Championship this year alongside Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Lebanon.

Coach Moriero told 'One Sports' that the most important thing this tournament is the team's mentality, adding that the team has worked a lot on changing their mentality prior to the team.

"I don't want to talk about the semi or finals this early on. I believe more in showing results through the team's performance. Like I mentioned before, this tournament is going to be a great experience for the team," Coach Moriero said.

He added that although Ashfaq and former captain Abdul Ghanee cannot play in the tournament due to injuries, he trusts the team to give a good fight in the tournament.

'One Sports' is bringing an extensive coverage on SAFF Championship together with sporting partners, MWSC, MPL, Urbanco and kit partner Jerzia.