Bundesliga stars give India vote of confidence ahead of AFC Asian Cup

Claudio Pizzaro, Mario Gotze, Timo Werner, Yann Sommer and Lothar Mattheus wished the Blue Tigers well for the tournament.

The India national football team are all set to play their first AFC Asian Cup 2019 game against Thailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium, Abu Dhabi. As the Blue Tigers are grinding out the final preparations before the final hurdle and in a surprising turn of events, many Bundesliga stars gave them some encouraging pep talk before the tournament.

In a social media post by the Bundesliga official page, many of the German top divisions' stars, past and present, gave their best wishes to the national team and its players. Werder Bremen striker and former Bayern Munich hitman Claudio Pizzaro hailed Indian national team captain Sunil Chhetri. He said, “There’s no one in India quite like you. Keep firing and inspiring the nation.” Coming from a rampant international goal-scorer like Pizarro, those are some kind words which will definitely ignite the fire in Chhetri.

The stars ???? from @Bundesliga_EN have special wishes for the #BlueTigers ???? ahead of the #AsianCup2019 .Thank you ???????? for the support ???????? ???? ????????@MarioGoetze @YannSommer1 @LMatthaeus10#BackTheBlue #AsianDream #IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/YCI5DGpBC6

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 3, 2019

 Watch: Bundesliga stars wish Indian football team ahead of AFC Asian Cup

For young Anirudh Thapa, the world-cup winning goal-scorer Mario Gotze had some encouraging words as well. Thapa, who probably never thought of him being recognized by someone like Gotze, would probably be reinvigorated upon hearing off Gotze thinking he could become India’s next big superstar. The Borussia Dortmund star ended with stating, “make your mark” to the Chennaiyin FC midfielder, something he’ll definitely aim to do in the AFC Asian Cup.

Borussia Monchengladbach’s towering goalkeeper Yann Sommer also had some words of advice for Gurpreet Sindh Sandhu, who is expected to make his first AFC Asian Cup appearance on Sunday. He said, “Gurpreet, you are a guardian of the posts. Remember, block everything in sight!” Jeje Lalpekhlua might be misfiring right now, but upon hearing words of encouragement for German striker Timo Werner, he’ll probably be pumped up to prove his goal-scoring ability soon.

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Finally, German legend Lothar Mattheus, who had recently visited India, had some words of support from the Bundesliga. Mattheus wished the Indian Football team all the very best for the tournament ahead, ending with “Back the Blue”, something which can make every Indian football fan very proud.

With the Indian Football team players in need of support to elevate their performance-level in the AFC Asian Cup, these kind words will definitely light up the fire in them. It proves how the Bundesliga is aiming to create a strong fan-base among Indian viewers and this gentle-men act from these renowned, world-class players will definitely help their cause. However, these wishes prove how the Indian national team is making rounds all over the world and is slowly becoming noticed in the footballing world.