Despite unreliable circumstances, the Indian football team has undertaken preparation for the World Cup qualifiers next month. The team arrived in Doha on 19th May following a series of Covid tests after repeated plead of fixture delay from AIFF (All India Football Federation) was turned down by the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). The qualifiers were already delayed by a month due to a surge in coronavirus cases in most of the countries involved in Group E.
Because the nation was concerned with the pandemic situation, the Blue Tigers couldn't arrange a camp in India. So, they were forced to travel again with the home games cancelled out. The original format couldn't work due to the pandemic. The national team was in a bio bubble from May 15th.
Fixtures :
India vs Qatar - June 3 (22:30)
Bangladesh vs India - June 7 (19:30)
India vs Afghanistan - June 15 (19:30)
All kickoff times in Indian Standard time (IST).
Probabilities :
India's chances to play in the 2022 World Cup is mathematically over. They need a miracle to get into the next round of the qualifying stage in order to land themselves for the showpiece event. India (Currently placed fourth in the table on 3 points, 3 draws and 2 losses after 5 games) need to win their remaining fixtures to stand a chance. Oman, second in the group with 12 points, need to lose every single game of their fixtures to give the Blue Tigers the advantage. It is next to impossible to occur.
India's focus is on the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification as a case. It is a realistic target they can dream of at the moment. To be in the qualification process for the tournament, India have to finish third in Group E. Qatar, being the host of the World Cup next year, is playing for Asian Cup qualification, in the first position with 16 points. Oman comes second on 12 points with a significant gap from the rest of the nations in the group. India trails Afghanistan by two points for third place.
By claiming the third place in Group E , the Blue Tigers will guarantee themselves a spot in the third round of qualifying for the Asian Cup held in China. There the 24 teams finishing in third in the World Cup qualifying will be divided into six groups of four to play home-and-away round-robin matches to compete for the remaining slots of the Asian Cup. It's a long road but worth a try. India have to restrict Afghanistan and Bangladesh in their last two games by gaining enough points out of them. Only then will they be able to secure the all important third place standing in the table.
Opponents preparation :
India play their fixtures at Doha without any prior preparation. It was two months back that two friendly games were played. The prolonged pandemic situation in the country restricted them to have camps. Added to that, India's friendly game against Philippines got cancelled because the latter didn't receive the clearance of Qatar due to delay in submission of necessary documents.
Qatar too didn't play any game prior to facing Indian national team on 3rd June. They played two friendlies in March and that was it. Afghanistan, on the other hand, stationed in Dubai are able to play two practice matches. They won against Indonesia on May 25 and have their second match against Singapore on May 29. They are two only teams lucky enough to get some preparations done ahead of the qualifiers. Bangladesh were supposed to get some competitive minutes under their belt but their trip to Saudi Arabia got postponed.
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Indian Squad :
Captain Sunil Chettri is back in the squad after missing out on the friendlies in March due to Covid 19. His inclusion is a major boost to the national squad. FC Goa's midfielder Glan Martins got his first call up after impressing in the memorable AFC Champions League campaign. His string of great performances along with the team was enough to impress his national coach Igor Stimac.
The squad is full of rookies on the international level once again and most of them will be handed their chance to showcase their talent on the pitch. Stimac stuck with the duo of his choice, Narender Gehlot and Ashique Kuruniyan in the bid to finally get the best out of them. Pronay Halder is back in the mix as well after not featuring in the squad for March friendlies.
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (Bengaluru FC), Amrinder Singh (Mumbai City), Dheeraj Singh (FC Goa)
Defenders: Pritam Kotal (ATK Mohun Bagan), Rahul Bheke (Bengaluru FC), Narender Gehlot (Jamshedpur FC), Chinglensana Singh (Hyderabad FC), Sandesh Jhingan (ATK Mohun Bagan), Adil Khan (FC Goa), Akash Mishra (Hyderabad FC), Subhashish Bose (ATK Mohun Bagan).
Midfielders: Udanta Singh (Bengaluru FC), Brandon Fernandes (FC Goa), Liston Colaco (ATK Mohun Bagan), Rowllin Borges (Mumbai City), Glan Martins (FC Goa), Anirudh Thapa (Chennaiyan FC), Pronoy Halder (ATK Mohun Bagan), Suresh Singh (Bengaluru FC), Lalengmawia Ralte (NorthEast United), Abdul Sahal (Kerala Blasters), Yasir Mohammad (NorthEast United), Lallianzuala Chhangte (Chennaiyan FC), Bipin Singh (Mumbai City), Ashique Kuruniyan (Bengaluru FC)
Forwards: Ishan Pandita (FC Goa), Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC), Manvir Singh (ATK Mohun Bagan)
