Football
Assessing India's opponents at AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers
Before the Indian football team heads out to play their matches in AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, here's a look at the their opponents and their performances.
The Indian football team trains ahead of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers (Source: Indian football team)
The Indian football team is set to begin their quest to win the third round of AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan from Wednesday, June 8. During the stint between June 8 and June 14, the Blue Tigers will face the likes of Cambodia, Hongkong and Afghanistan.
India and Afghanistan have faced each other a couple of times during the qualifiers with both the encounters ending in a draw. However, against Hong Kong, India played once in 2010 but the game ended in a defeat for India. Under former coach Stephen Constantine, India won their last game against Cambodia, 3-2 in 2017. India have been sitting on a string of poor performances in the preparatory friendlies winning only one since their SAFF Championship match against Nepal in October 2021.
India are set to begin their campaign against Cambodia on June 8, followed by Afghanistan on June 11 and concluding their fixture with Hongkong on June 14th.
Cambodia significantly has to be the toughest team India encounters in the group. Having played 18 games in the last 3 years, Cambodia lost only two while drawing five and winning the rest maintaining a 61.11% winning rate. In these matches, Cambodia claimed a commanding victory over teams like Pakistan, Laos, and Guam scoring 18 goals in the process. However, their biggest defeat came at the hands of Iran who routed the South Asian nation 14-0 as they upped the conceding tally by 59 goals. However, Cambodia have won both of their last Asian Cup Qualification games against Guam by 1-0 and 2-1.
Afghanistan having drawn both their previous games against India would look for their maiden win against the outfit. However, the team does not seem to have a great international season as well, as in the last 15 games played, Afghans have won only four games while drawing four and losing 7, attaining a winning percentage of only 26.6 per cent.
For the opponent on the ultimate day, Hong Kong, in the last three years they have played 12 international games, however, nine of these matches were played in 2019, while three in 2021. The team will be playing their first encounter in 2022 against India while they attempt to repeat the win since 2010. During the 12 games, they have won only once, losing nine and drawing two. Their only win came against Cambodia in the 2019 World Cup Qualifiers.
Igor Stimac will have a mammoth task overtaking these opponents with the injury-stricken camp, as players like Rahul Bheke, Apuia remain in doubt while Ritwik Das was already rendered out and replaced by Deepak Tangri.
