10 days to go for India's AFC Asian Cup opener

India will take on Australia in their first AFC Asian Cup 2023 game.

With only 10 days remaining before the commencement of the highly anticipated AFC Asian Cup, the Indian men’s football team is fully immersed in their training regimen, meticulously honing their tactics to prepare for the formidable opponents.

The Blue Tigers will play their first match against the Australian team on the 13th of January, with subsequent matches scheduled against Uzbekistan and Syria on the 18th and 23rd, respectively.

Inclusion of Trevor Sinclair 

Before the declaration of the 26-member squad led by the head coach Igor Stimac, the stakeholders added former West Ham United and Manchester City star winger Trevor Sinclair as an assistant coach for the AFC Asian Cup. 

The inclusion of Trevor will significantly enhance the team’s performance in set-piece execution and wing-play strategies during matches, as he has proven to be a formidable presence in these roles during his playing days.

A session with Milutinovic 

Apart from Trevor, the All India Football Federation also took to their official social media handles to share several photographs of the flamboyant coach Bora Milutinovic, as he engaged with the team and imparted his insights. The photos were shared with a quote, “Legendary Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic, who holds the record for coaching in consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments, visited the Blue Tigers and shared a few words of wisdom with them at their training session today.”

The Indian squad 

The team arrived in Doha on December 30, 2023, and immediately commenced their practice session. With a few days remaining before the event, the management is determined to seize every opportunity to maximize their performance.

Even though experienced campaigners like Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Sandesh Jhingan and Anirudh Thapa are already in the mix, there are 17 players in the squad who are going to make their AFC Asian Cup debut this time around. 

Key players missing out 

Although India will strive to perform at their best in the upcoming matches, the absence of Anwar Ali, Jeakson Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Rohit Kumar will surely be felt in the team. These players have been instrumental for the team for a significant period of time, but injury concerns have prevented their selection.

Sahal Abdul Samad is currently facing an injury concern, and there is uncertainty surrounding his availability. However, according to reports, he is expected to recover by the third week of January and will subsequently be able to participate in the remaining matches.

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