India will start their 2023 AFC Asian Cup marketing campaign on Saturday, dealing with Group B opponents Australia on the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar. Igor Stimac’s aspect have been positioned in a tricky group, consisting of heavyweights Australia, Uzbekistan and Syria.
Sunil Chhetri can be India’s talisman.(Twitter)
Against Australia, they’re up in opposition to a aspect which left Lionel Messi impressed in the course of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. So it will likely be an enormous job for India, once they kick-off their marketing campaign.
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This can be India’s fifth AFC Asian Cup look, having beforehand certified in 1964, 1984, 2011 and 2019.
In their first Asian Cup look in 1964, India gained a direct entry to the finals of the event after a number of groups pulled out attributable to political causes. Coached by Harry Wright, it was additionally India’s finest end within the event. It was performed in a round-robin format and was gained by hosts Israel, and had solely 4 individuals, one from every zone. India received second place, with wins over South Korea and Hong Kong. Inder Singh was the crew’s prime scorer with two targets.
Then they as soon as once more certified for the finals after 20 years in 1984, but it surely was a catastrophe. They had been positioned in Group B alongside China, Iran, UAE and hosts Singapore. India misplaced three matches and held Iran to a goalless draw, and solely registered a degree.
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was India’s third look. They certified after successful the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. India had been positioned in Group C, and misplaced all their group matches. Australia thrashed them 4-0 within the opener after which misplaced 2-5 to Bahrain of their subsequent match. In their closing group match, they crashed to a 1-4 defeat vs South Korea.
Eight years later, India as soon as once more certified, this time for the 2019 Asian Cup. Under head coach Stephen Constantine, they started their marketing campaign with a 4-1 win in opposition to Thailand. But then crashed to slender defeats to UAE (0-2) and Bahrain (0-1) which noticed them get eradicated.
Facing Australia, India might want to set the document straight this time, however might want to play at their highest degree. Speaking to Hindustan Times, winger Lallianzuala Chhangte stated, “It’s not an easy group by any means, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Syria are all good teams, especially the first two. But it’s the Asian Cup, if you want to play at this level, you need to be prepared to face the best opponents in the continent. We are training hard, and we will play hard and give it our best in the three matches in the group stage, and then see where we stand. For sure, we want to qualify for the knockout rounds.”
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
