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Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 11 (ANI): Indian males’s soccer workforce face Afghanistan of their second match of the third spherical of AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on Saturday on the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata.
The Blue Tigers who beat Cambodia of their first match on Wednesday might take a large step in the direction of confirming their presence in subsequent yr’s AFC Asian Cup finals with a victory on Saturday.
India head coach Igor Stimac sounded assured forward of the match in opposition to Afghanistan but in addition confirmed loads of respect to their opponent as he addressed their bodily attributes in the course of the pre-match press convention on Friday.
India and Afghanistan lately clashed within the FIFA World Cup qualifiers with each the encounters between them ending in 1-1 attracts. Stimac’s males left it late to equalise within the first recreation in Dushanbe in 2019 earlier than Anoush Dastgir’s workforce got here again to degree it at 1-1 within the reverse recreation in Doha in 2021.
Afghanistan although suffered a shock 1-2 defeat in opposition to Hong Kong within the final match and nothing lower than a win will maintain their probabilities of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup finals alive.
India got here into the match in blended kind as they’ve misplaced three and received two of their final 5 matches. Nonetheless, all their defeats have come away from dwelling and in opposition to stronger opposition. They are going to be seeking to construct on their 2-0 win over Cambodia of their final match.
Afghanistan has solely managed to win one recreation of their final 5 encounters. The win got here in opposition to the Kuwait U-23 aspect. Their final match was in opposition to Hong Kong which they misplaced 2-1.
India and Afghanistan have confronted one another on 9 events. In these 9 encounters, India got here on high in 4 whereas Afghans managed to win three, and two matches led to a draw. The final time India confronted the Lions of Khurasan was in 2019 in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. The match led to a 1-1 draw. (ANI)
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