Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament: India 1-0 Myanmar highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCQcZyfXlhg

4:30 PM: Hello everyone and welcome to Khel Now’s LIVE COVERAGE of the India vs Myanmar match in the Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament 2023. The kick-off is just an hour and a half away! I’m your host Aishwarya Chakraborty, and I’ll be keeping you company through what promises a fascinating evening of football. Please wait for 30 Seconds for the Live blog to load.

Also Read:

• India vs Myanmar Preview: Blue Tigers take on new-look Lions
• Rival Watch: India to face Myanmar in Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament 2023
• India vs Myanmar: Three key battles that can decide the tie
• Igor Stimac: We have 23 boys here who are equally ready to fight for the country
• Myanmar coach Michael Feichtenbeiner urges his side to ‘believe in yourself’ against very strong India
• Expect players from Manipur to start against Myanmar, informs India coach Igor Stimac
• Five new faces in Indian Football Team for Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament

Hero Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament: India vs Myanmar - Build-up

India hosts Myanmar in their opening match of the Tri-Nation Friendly Tournament on Wednesday, 22 March. It’ll mark their first international match of 2023 and take place at the Khuman Lapak Stadium, Imphal. The India vs Myanmar match is one of the two international games that the Blue Tigers will face in the international window.

Playing their first home game in over eight months, India will aim to thrill the home crowd with some brilliant attacking football. But they can’t take a motivated Myanmar side lightly, doing which can see their party ruined in Imphal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MWBxKH9pvs

The Stakes

India

The Blue Tigers will be playing for the first time since September 2022, since their disappointing VFF Tri-series in Vietnam. With the ISL season now over, the players can focus on rediscovering their chemistry for the national team. For Igor Stimac, these games are more about testing out new strategies and giving minutes to newer players.

But that doesn’t mean India can take this lightly. The prospect of gaining FIFA points and jumping up the World Rankings is at stake. They’ll have to work hard on winning both games, starting with Myanmar. They face a team that hasn’t won a competitive game in over a year. Losing would be absolutely embarrassing and undo all the confidence built upon among the fanbase.

Even a draw would be underwhelming. It’s because of the heavy expectations on them to produce amazing attacking football and win the match that some players might be under pressure. But they’ll need to thrive under it because the stakes of potentially climbing the world rankings hang in the balance in this game.

Myanmar

Myanmar don’t really have much to lose in this one, as they’re facing a team well ahead of them in the FIFA rankings. That’s why they could operate more freely and use that unpredictability to their advantage. Not having won a game in over a year is disappointing for Myanmar and they hope to fix this in India.

They probably don’t have as much at stake as India, but the same prospect of gaining more FIFA points is also applicable to them. While losing won’t be the worst thing, a win can be absolutely huge to bolster their confidence in growing as a unit in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1SF-FVaaTk&t=1s

India vs Myanmar Head-to-Head

India have met Myanmar five times in competitive games, with their last game happening in 2017. The Blue Tigers boast a pretty good record against them, having won three games.

Played – 5

India – 3

Myanmar – 1

Drawn – 1

Injury & Team News

Sivasakthi Narayanan and Glan Martins had to withdraw from the India team despite being selected in the 23-man squad. Pritam Kotal and Naorem Mahesh Singh have replaced them, but both are unlikely to start this. It remains to be seen how many ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC players start after their grueling ISL final on Saturday.

Myanmar have named their best-possible 24-man squad for their two games in India.