PANJIM: For football to improve, or for that matter for any sports, teams need first to play friendly matches against higher-ranked opponents, and then participate in higher official competitions of the higher official bodies to get a good understanding of where they stand. It is from this point of view that India’s participation in the Asia Games in China will provide a better picture of the standard of football in our country.
India are now ranked 99th in the world. That doesn’t mean our standard is good even among the other Asian nations where we are ranked 18th. Japan, Iran, Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, UAE, Oman, Uzbekistan, China PR, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Vietnam, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan are above our country with Lebanon, Kuwait being behind us.
India won five and drew four matches in the Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championships. Before the start of the events, India’s aim was to move up one spot among Asian Football Confederation nations during the July rankings update, and they have now achieved that. That’s the reason why India was in Pot 2 for the World Cup Qualifiers Round 2 Draw. India will then be in action in King’s Cup in Thailand with Thailand, Iraq, Lebenan and later feature in Merdeka tournament in October featuring Palestine, Malaysia, Lebanon.
Undoubtedly, India has made rapid strides in the recent past. There was also an upsurge in public interest and all this was of the main reason for the inclusion of the men’s and women’s teams for the Asian Games, declared AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey.
There is a perception that Indian football is on the upswing. This is largely due to the fact of winning the tri-nation tournament, Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championships. And moving back to below 100 in FIFA rankings for the first time since 2018. Obviously, there has been a steady improvement.
On the other side, “the combined viewership of SAFF Championship on the YouTube channel saw an impressive influx of fans participation. Our women’s team progressed to the Round 2 of Olympics qualifying,” pointed out Chaubey, a former India goalkeeper.
India is currently ranked 18th among countries under the Asian Football Confederation. But, out of the 23 competing countries in the Asian Games, India are at 13th spot as higher ranked countries like Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Jordan are not taking part. Third-ranked Australia does not feature in the Asian Games.
Chaubey reiterated that India will field the best available senior men’s team with the talismanic Sunil Chhetri as captain and the country can expect a strong show in the Asian Games, scheduled to held from September 23 to October 8. The team will be under the watchful eyes of head coach Igor Stimac as the country returns to the Asian Games football competition after missing out in 2018.
Sunil Chhetri will be a part of the Asian Games team as one of the three over-aged players along with several others of the current senior side. “We intend to send the best national teams for both men’s and women’s competition. It’s a matter of reputation for India to field the best competitive team,” remarked Chaubey.
Having Sunil Chhetri to lead this team will bring in a lot of value. Coach Stimac’s experience will also come into play in preparation for the event. India’s number one goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and defensive mainstay Sandesh Jhingan are expected to be the other two over-age players.
The Asian Games football competition is an Under-23 affair but due to the one-year delay of this edition, the organisers have allowed those who are 24 years old with the cut-off date of birth being fixed at January 1, 1999.
This means that at least half a dozen players — apart from the senior trio of Chhetri, Gurpreet and Jhingan — from the team that had won the SAFF Championships earlier this month can also be picked for the Asian Games.
“Participation in Asian Games has its significance in the current context of Indian football. There is an air of positivity around Indian football and I believe Asian Games results will provide further impetus for the growth of the sport in India,” opined Kalyan.
“The men’s and women’s teams will be seen back at Asian Games after nine years. Unfortunately, it’s too long a gap for Indian football,” said Chaubey.
The general feeling is that the current India team is strong tactically, physically and mentally. The fitness levels have been excellent and experts felt that the boys are in good shape, both physically and mentally. Our team played back-to-back 120 plus minutes of games and still there was no sign of fatigue.
Asked if it would not be challenging to get the players released by their clubs for the Asian Games, Kalyan said, “All our stakeholders are like-minded football administrators and wish well for Indian football. Their contributions have been immense in the growth of Indian football, and collectively, our motto has been ‘India First’.”
The AIFF has a big task ahead no doubt. The federation will have to draw the domestic calendar to make sure that the club competitions do not suffer.
