Bolstered by the return of Jeakson Singh and Anwar Ali, the Indian soccer staff will renew its quest for a maiden entry into the third spherical of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers when it faces a weakened Afghanistan right here on March 21.
With mid-field normal Jeakson and centre-back Anwar again in the line-up after lengthy damage layoffs, due to which India suffered in current previous, the Blue Tigers will fancy their possibilities against the lower-ranked opponents in the second-round preliminary joint qualification match.
However, mid-fielder Sahal Abdul Samad has been dominated out of the competition attributable to a hamstring damage he suffered in coaching on Tuesday.
With three points and one win from two matches, India at present occupy the second place in the Group A pecking order.
Reigning Asian champions Qatar lead the standings with six points from two wins, whereas Kuwait are second with one win. Having misplaced each their video games to date, Afghanistan are positioned final.
India’s away win against Kuwait has put Igor Stimac’s staff in a powerful place to progress additional in the qualification cycle, one thing the 117-ranked facet has by no means achieved.
Victories in their upcoming outings (away and residential) against the 158-ranked Afghanistan will assist India purchase 9 points and with Qatar anticipated to win their subsequent two matches against Kuwait, the Blue Tigers have an actual likelihood of leaping to second place in the standings.
India defeated Kuwait (1-0) in Kuwait City in their opening match of the qualifiers, earlier than shedding to Qatar (0-3) in Bhubaneswar.
Since their first-ever assembly manner again in 1949, India and Afghanistan have met frequently and the regional rivalry has not run its course even after the latter left SAFF in 2016.
The face-off continued in the World Cup Qualifiers, Asian Cup Qualifiers and different continental and invitational tournaments, with India having their nostril forward on most events.
Nevertheless, the Afghans have at all times been a tough opposition to beat, combating until the ultimate whistle.
Nobody in this Indian squad can inform about Afghanistan higher than the evergreen Sunil Chhetri, who’s going sturdy at 39 and will probably be spearheading the visiting assault alongside Manvir Singh, who discovered the web in the staff’s win against Kuwait.
Chhetri’s file against the neighbours is sort of spectacular, scoring 4 targets in eight matches together with a spectacular strike from a free kick in Kolkata in 2022.
“They have progressively improved from when we met them for the first time,” mentioned Chhetri.
“The games were comfortable, but slowly and steadily, they progressed. And because of being in the same region, the rivalry also generated.
“Hence, the video games turned fairly shut. Both India and Afghanistan have improved in the final decade or so. Having gamers who play exterior has actually helped them,” he added.
While Chhetri stays his largest participant, Stimac must be no much less thrilled with the return of Jeakson and Anwar.
Jeakson has performed a pivotal position for the Blue Tigers in the final two years, and featured in 17 consecutive matches from the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in June 2022 till the King’s Cup in Thailand final September.
His significance could be gauged by Stimac labelling him as one of many largest misses in the squad for the Asian Cup in Qatar.
What additionally makes India favourites in the sport is the absence of some key Afghanistan gamers, who’ve been at loggerheads with the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) since accusing the game physique of indulging in corruption, together with match-fixing.
As the second spherical of qualifiers began, issues between the Afghanistan gamers and the AFF began rising.
As many as 18 gamers boycotted the qualifiers against Kuwait and Qatar, leaving the facet with few first-team gamers for the outing against Mongolia, whom the Lions of Khorasan defeated to progress to the second spherical.
Still, gamers equivalent to Zohib Islam Amiri, Omid Musawi and Balal Arezou will look to trigger issues for India.
Match timing: 12.30am IST (Friday).
