The next three months are going to be crucial for Indian Football. They are going to face Kuwait, reigning Asian Champions Qatar, and Afghanistan twice in their bid to qualify for the premier International tournament in football. That comes after an ’embarrassing’ run at the Asian Cup in Qatar. The performances and results drew international attention as to why a country with over a billion people doesn’t have an ample amount of competent footballers. The team and its head coach Igor Stimac haven’t faced the media since returning to India. Complete silence has been maintained on questions related to the national team.
Stimac continues to be the representative. While he continues, he has the task of getting full points against Afghanistan and Kuwait. The March window will see India travel to Abha and back to face Afghanistan.
Games so far
Afghanistan took a good beating in November. First, they lost 8-1 to Qatar at the Khalifa International Stadium. That was followed by a 4-0 loss against Kuwait. Whereas India’s last victory came against the same opponent in November which also happened to be the first away victory for India in Asian Cup qualifiers since 2002. Since then, they have lost to Qatar, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Syria.
Challenges India face
Playing at such high altitudes is a big challenge for India. Earlier, they struggled with playing in such conditions when they played Afghanistan in Dushanbe. The venue for the away fixture against Afghanistan is located at 2470 meters above sea level. Landing as soon as the league paused, the Blue Tigers underwent their first training session on Saturday.
“Since our match will kick off at 22:00 we have moved our daily schedule forward a few hours so that players can adjust their biorhythm accordingly,” said Stimac. It is also the first time the team will face the media after its disappointing outing at the Asian Cup where India came out as the worst team of the 24 participating in Qatar. However, despite having almost five years at the helm, Stimac demands more time to even expect good performances.
“I don’t expect miracles from anyone. We believe in process and patient work. This will serve us to see how they respond to our demands and if we can count on them in the future,” said the Croatian.
Current scenario of the Group
India currently lies third in their group, above Afghanistan, who are without a point so far. Qatar leads with domination and Kuwait follows them. They are above India based on goal difference. The top two sides will advance to the final World Cup Qualification round in Asia and will then directly qualify for 2027.
Previous Encounters with Afghanistan
Afghanistan hasn’t been an easy opponent for the Indian side. India holds a positive 7-3-1 record against the Afghans but the last three encounters have ended in two draws and a very close win at the Salt Lake.
In Dushanbe, India salvaged a point after an unlikely headed goal from Len Doungel in the added time. Again they scrapped a point out of the fixture when a goalkeeping mistake from Ovays Azizi led India to a single point. Rarely has India looked like a team that other South Asian nations look up to.
Expectations from Afghanistan
Afghanistan was hit by the player’s protests for quite a time. Faysal Shayesteh even confirmed at one point that he won’t be playing for the federation. Ashley Westwood, a prominent coach in Indian Football, is coaching the Afghanistan national side. He attended India’s games at the Asian Cup and carefully took notes. He will only have four players from the squad that defeated Mongolia in the preliminary qualifying round. Eighteen players have boycotted the team since, protesting the ‘substandard treatment’ from the Afghanistan Football Federation.
In conclusion, Stimac will never face such a depleted Afghanistan – a team that has often questioned his integrity as a tactician. Afghanistan isn’t expected to take the full points. But India is. Big victories could provide some solace after an appalling continental display. But six points against Afghanistan are merely anything other than an absolute necessity in the manager’s quest to go through to the third round.
Both the games will be streamed on Fancode at the price of 50 INR. The teams will fly to Guwahati to play India’s home game on March 26.
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