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A stage to appease all the ogling eyeballs, a chance to rub shoulders with the continent's finest, an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past, and a gateway to inspire many generations after, India's dance in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 is packed with all the narratives for one reason or the other.
Igor Stimac, to the best of his capacity, has time and time again taken up the responsibility to highlight the reality (read: lack of a proper training camp ahead of the competition) but the expectation hasn't just stopped brewing. Even if India keeps their eyes set just on the group stage, the quality is still overwhelming, to say the least.
Clubbed into Group B, the Blue Tigers will open their continental campaign against heavyweights Australia before facing Uzbekistan, whom Stimac touts as the 'dark horses'.
Stimac's men will end their group-stage campaign with a clash against Syria on January 23. In the previous edition, Sunil Chhetri and Co. created headlines after defeating Thailand but eventually lost to UAE and Thailand to be knocked out of the competition.
Since 1964 when India finished in the runners-up spot, the nation has never crawled out of the group stages and there's a cloud of doubt whether the fortunes will change for good in this edition. But the Croatian head coach, in a press conference earlier in the week, underlined that he intends to deliver a fearless brand of football with his men.
"This group is much stronger than the last Asian Cup. The most important thing for us is to have a good performance and ensure that we remain stable and in shape while playing. I am not putting any pressure on players about results. We need to find stability, we will try to play fearless football notwithstanding the teams we play against. I don't mind the final results. Our final goal is to qualify for the third round of World Cup qualifiers," Stimac said.
Meanwhile, the 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be the tournament's 18th edition and will be hosted in Qatar. Consisting of 24 national teams, it will feature the finest players from the continent who have made headlines across top-tier leagues in the globe.
India's group-stage fixtures at the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023
January 13, 2024: Australia vs India (17:00 IST, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan)
January 18, 2024: India vs Uzbekistan (20:00 IST, Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan)
January 23, 2024: Syria vs India (17:00 IST, Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor)
India's 26-member squad for the AFC Asian Cup 2023
Goalkeepers: Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith.
Defenders: Akash Mishra, Lalchungnunga, Mehtab Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose.
Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Deepak Tangri, Lalengmawia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Udanta Singh.
Forwards: Ishan Pandita, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Manvir Singh, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Sunil Chhetri, Vikram Partap Singh.
Broadcast details for India's AFC Asian Cup 2024 campaign
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Thursday that the Blue Tigers' matches in the AFC Asian Cup 2024 will be broadcast on JioCinema app and website. The Super Cup will be also available on Sports18 channels.
