The Indian national football team is all set to get back in action at the international stage in March when the Blue Tigers will go up against Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai. Indian football team players are very happy and up for the challenge, as they expressed their views on the two international friendlies against top oppositions.
It’s a brilliant piece of news not just for us players but for Indian football overall that we will be playing again at the international arena,
All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) official website quoted goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as saying.
With international sports having shut down owing to the pandemic situation, I am aware as to how difficult it is to arrange matches under the current scenario. I need to thank the All India Football Federation and the coaching staff for arranging this. Both the matches are against very tough oppositions whom we would love to play against, and test ourselves.
He continued.
The Blue Tigers under Igor Stimac have not had the best outing so far at the FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifiers. India have played five matches and are yet to register a single win, and their best result came against the reigning Asian Champions, Qatar, when they held them to 0-0 at their den.
Apart from that, India have struggled against Oman, losing both matches and have not been at their best against Bangladesh and Afghanistan. With the Blue Tigers eager to perform well in the remaining matches, these friendlies against top Asian nations will certainly help Stimac in his preparations.
India are set to play against Oman on March 25, followed by the match against UAE on March 29. Hearing the final announcement of these two matches, Indian defender Sandesh Jhingan could not hold back his excitement and felt it was massive for Indian football.
It’s a great piece of news which the entire nation was waiting for. It’s massive for the fans, and for us players as well as we haven’t played an international match in the last one and half years. Thanks to the AIFF for arranging this,
Jhingan stressed.
It’s important for us to get back into the system of Igor Stimac, start training and improving. There are crucial games coming up in June which would be followed by the Qualifiers of the Asian Cup China 2023. The camp in March is just extra days to train and improve together as a team. I am extremely happy,
the ATK Mohun Bagan defender added.
The national team will prepare for these two international friendlies and therefore they will arrive in Dubai for a training camp which will start from March 15 onwards. Currently, with the Indian football season in full swing, it will be interesting to see who has caught Stimac’s eyes this season with their performances.
The Croatian tactician has already hinted that there will be a considerable amount of changes, and with the Indians performing really well in the Indian Super League this season, chances are that most of them will wear their national team jersey for the first time. Stimac has already shown that he is not afraid of putting his trust in youth and how he relishes the correct combination of youthful exuberance and experience on the field.
Stimac has always advocated the thought process of playing against stronger opponents and not thinking about the FIFA rankings. He feels that the Indian national team will only improve if they play against top teams regularly.
Many people are too often looking at the FIFA rankings; that is not important. We have to play better teams. I don’t want opponents who are easy to beat. I don’t care about the statistics and numbers. We have to look at the long term development of Indian football.
Stimac told TOI.
