India start preparation for Asian Cup qualifiers
By: Ramachandran Sriram
India return to the pitch after seven months as they take on Cambodia today at Phnom Penh in an international friendly. It'll be preparation for pitting their strengths against the likes of Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Macau for qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
India's last run out came when they hammered a higher-ranked Puerto Rican outfit 4 -1 in a comeback victory in September, with Narayan Das, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri and Jackichand Singh getting on the scoresheet.
Cambodia, ranked 173rd in the world and 41 places below The Blue Tigers (132nd), come on the back of a horrific 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Saudi Arabia in January.
India's second game during this international break will be their AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar. So this game will have to be used to get the team to play together after a significant period apart.
India would expect to start with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal, who has impressed since taking over the reins from veteran Subrata Paul. The defence will also look familiar Sandesh Jhingan and Arnab Mondal f lanked by Pritam Kotal and Narayan Das. Anas Edathodika could get his debut as well, replacing Jhingan, their club forms in contrast for Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC, respectively.
The midfield, however, is the hardest part to get right for The Blue Tigers, who will be without the services of the injured Pronay Halder and with Eugeneson Lyngdoh in poor form. Even the players who could step in Jackichand Singh, Rowllin Borges and Mohammed Rafique haven't seen a lot of game time during the domestic season. Captain Sunil Chhetri should start up front with Jeje Lalpekhlua, but given the latter's indifferent form recently and Robin Singh's good touch, a swap wouldn't be out of the question.
Coach Stephen Constantine has made it a point to hand out debuts to plenty of youngsters. With four possible debutants in the squad Anas, Nishu Kumar, Jerry Lalrinzuala and Milan Singh it would be a surprise if none take the field at some point.
Cambodia arrive into this fixture with a handful of regulars not being part of an unusually youthful squad. The last time India faced the South-east Asian nation was at the 2007 Nehru Cup opener at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The score read 6-0 in favour of the hosts then.Chhetri netted a brace; so did Steven Dias. NP Pradeep also scored from a longranger and former captain Bhaichung Bhutia added one from the spot. The sixgoal margin still remains India's largest victory by margin of goals at home.
India return to the pitch after seven months as they take on Cambodia today at Phnom Penh in an international friendly. It'll be preparation for pitting their strengths against the likes of Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Macau for qualification to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
India's last run out came when they hammered a higher-ranked Puerto Rican outfit 4 -1 in a comeback victory in September, with Narayan Das, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri and Jackichand Singh getting on the scoresheet.
Cambodia, ranked 173rd in the world and 41 places below The Blue Tigers (132nd), come on the back of a horrific 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Saudi Arabia in January.
India's second game during this international break will be their AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar. So this game will have to be used to get the team to play together after a significant period apart.
India would expect to start with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal, who has impressed since taking over the reins from veteran Subrata Paul. The defence will also look familiar Sandesh Jhingan and Arnab Mondal f lanked by Pritam Kotal and Narayan Das. Anas Edathodika could get his debut as well, replacing Jhingan, their club forms in contrast for Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC, respectively.
The midfield, however, is the hardest part to get right for The Blue Tigers, who will be without the services of the injured Pronay Halder and with Eugeneson Lyngdoh in poor form. Even the players who could step in Jackichand Singh, Rowllin Borges and Mohammed Rafique haven't seen a lot of game time during the domestic season. Captain Sunil Chhetri should start up front with Jeje Lalpekhlua, but given the latter's indifferent form recently and Robin Singh's good touch, a swap wouldn't be out of the question.
Coach Stephen Constantine has made it a point to hand out debuts to plenty of youngsters. With four possible debutants in the squad Anas, Nishu Kumar, Jerry Lalrinzuala and Milan Singh it would be a surprise if none take the field at some point.
Cambodia arrive into this fixture with a handful of regulars not being part of an unusually youthful squad. The last time India faced the South-east Asian nation was at the 2007 Nehru Cup opener at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi. The score read 6-0 in favour of the hosts then.Chhetri netted a brace; so did Steven Dias. NP Pradeep also scored from a longranger and former captain Bhaichung Bhutia added one from the spot. The sixgoal margin still remains India's largest victory by margin of goals at home.
