Australia are a much better team in comparison to India. They aspire to be Asian Cup champions and are a side that has played every FIFA World Cup since 2006. Most of their players play in the leading leagues in the world, and ahead of the Asian Cup, they have played a practice game and trained to their best. In every sense, they are a superior outfit and almost impossible to beat. And yet, we expect India to compete. We expect the Blue Tigers to not be overawed and run the hardest they can for 95 minutes and push the Socceroos. We expect them to get physical and chase every ball and not cede an inch of turf to their more fancied opponents. In sum, we want the Indians led by Sunil Chhetri to fight and keep at it till the final whistle is blown.
And that’s where the change has happened. India aren’t overawed. They aren’t in Doha to make up the numbers. They won’t just wish for a miracle and start crowding up the defensive third from the first minute. Rather, they will try to play a high press and stay compact. Not allow the Australians to get set-piece opportunities and keep a good shape. That’s the new Indian football team we are expecting to see in Doha.
Igor Stimac, India’s coach, says something very interesting each time I speak to him. “If the better teams always won, there wouldn’t be any upsets in sport,” he says. “You won’t hear much from us. All I will say is we will give it everything we have and try and make our fans proud.”
Chhetri, the captain, sounded equally keen on the Asian Cup. “Look without sounding disrespectful to any Asian team and I am not one to ever do so, you can never judge yourself by winning the SAFF Cup,” he said. “The SAFF level isn’t the standard we aspire to anymore. That’s why the Asian Cup is significant. It gives you a mirror to judge yourself. Winning the SAFF Cup could actually breed a sense of complacency. Now, when you play against teams like Australia, which will make the World Cup, you will know where you stand. How much have you improved and what are the areas you need to work on? It is like a mirror and will help us understand where we are in our football.”
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Make no mistake, the Asian Cup is hugely significant. Even if India doesn’t make it to the next round and fails to beat either Australia or Uzbekistan, what should define the team is the effort that we see tonight. And on the January 18 and 23. That’s what will set us up for the World Cup qualifiers in March and lead India to the third round for the first time.
In 2023, India’s football won three back-to-back tournaments in a matter of months. While they didn’t play any top-20 Asian teams while doing so, teams like Kuwait and Lebanon aren’t pushovers. For the record, India had lost to Guam in the not-too-distant past and fallen to 161 in the FIFA rankings. Also, the team looks the fittest ever and have shown that they can play with intensity for well over 120 minutes. India’s goal-scoring ability and positional play have also shown remarkable improvement, and all things point to a better future for the sport in India.
Finally, what will help the Blue Tigers tonight is the support for the team. Thousands of Indian fans are expected to make it to the stadium and cheer for the boys. The World Cup qualifier away in Kuwait, for example, was almost a home game for India with a sea of blue in the stands. With such support, the boys will surely be pumped up. Ready for the spectacle and one of the nights of their lives.
And for all of us in the fraternity, it is time to back the Blue Tigers. Just as we back the cricket team through good and bad, it is time to show the same support for Chhetri, Sandesh Jhingan, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and the rest of the boys. Be vocal and dream, for miracles, we all know, do come true.
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