New Delhi, March 28: India take on hosts UAE on Monday (March 29) in the second international friendly after drawing 1-1 against higher-ranked Oman in their first friendly.
The second International Friendly against the UAE will be held at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai.
The match against Oman was a tale of two halves. A dominant Oman, and a holding India in the first half, while a confident India came out of their shells to take the fight back to "physical and a tactical" Oman in the second half.
India hold Oman 1-1 in first international match after COVID-19 lockdown
The 10 debutants have just started their international career. Maybe some more will come in on Monday. The friendlies come in light of the Blue Tigers' preparations for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in June.
Confident Blue Tigers take on hosts
Their confidence would be high after the impressive show against Oman, but the Blue Tigers know it will be an "extremely tough one."
"In the second half, we showed that there is nothing to fear about. These are better sides. When you play against teams in the top 100, the difference in 25 to 30 spots in rankings means a lot. There is still a big difference between UAE and us. But that doesn't mean we can't achieve the result," Head Coach Igor Stimac mentioned.
Rankings and head-to-head:
The rankings suggest that while India are currently at 104, UAE stay strong at 74 while Oman were at 81. The last time India played UAE was in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 where the Blue Tigers went down 0-2.
Weather report:
Despite it being the last week in March, Dubai has been surprisingly pleasant. There's always a cool breeze blowing across the post the sunset, keeping the mercury in check.
When and where to watch:
The match against UAE will be LIVE on EUROSPORT/EUROSPORT HD channels from 7pm local time (8.30 pm IST) on Monday (March 29).
Live streaming will be available on Jio TV.