With Asian Games in sight, the Indian National Team winning a series of tournaments on the home turf, the interest for the football team is like never before from the fans, social media and news outlets. The tournaments were the Tri-Nation Tournament, Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Championship. The unbeatable winning streak also helped India to move up in the FIFA rankings to the 99th place.
National Team plan for Asian Games
National Football Team Head Coach Igor Stimac plans to take the U-23 squad for the King’s Cup in September so that they have enough playing time experience before they go off to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The King’s Cup which is to happen in Thailand will include the host nation, Iraq, Lebanon and India. These matches which include physical ability, fitness and high intensity will surely help the young squad. Asian Games allows U-24 players and three seniors. AIFF will include Sunil Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh as the senior players.
The Asian Games draw was held on 27th August in China. The draw concluded with India clubbed in Group A along host nation China, Bangladesh and Myanmar. With two of the three teams in the group ranking below India, India should definitely aim for the knockout stages. The top two teams from each group and the four best third place will advance to the knockout stages.
The Indian football team didn’t participate in the last edition of the Asian Games held in Jakarta 2018. The sports ministry had stated that only teams which have been ranked eighth or better in Asia could represent India.
The same rules were also applied for Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games as well. But after the fans started to request the ministry on various social media platforms they agreed to grant the permission to participate.
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