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Indian football team face Jordan in their final friendly before the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers. Blue Tigers' head coach Igor Stimac underlined that the team needs to sort out "certain questions" in their last preparatory game.
The friendly will be played at the Qatar Sports Club, Doha, on Saturday. Speaking about the match, the Croatian gaffer told the AIFF media team:
"Another game against a stronger team will always help. It’s our last friendly game prior to qualifiers, and we need to get final answers on certain questions. Some of our youngsters will have a great opportunity to gain more experience at international level."
The qualifiers for the top-tier Asian competition will kick off in Kolkata on June 8, 2022, onwards. Indian football team has been clubbed in Group D along with Hong Kong, Afghanistan, and Cambodia. The host nation will play its first match against Cambodia on June 8 at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan.
Before flying to Qatar, the Blue Tigers played three practice matches in Kolkata, against ATK Mohun Bagan (lost 1-2), I-League All-Stars XI (Won 2-0), and the Bengal Santosh Trophy team (drew 1-1).
Stimac added that his team have worked hard on their fitness and will look forward to good results.
"The fitness levels are quite good. We have another 10 days in front of us, and it should be perfect. The boys have done a great job, and they need to be rewarded with some good results in the Qualifiers."
The Blue Tigers' previous opponents, Belarus, were 93rd on the FIFA rankings. Jordan, on the other hand, are two places higher up in the standings. Still, Stimac opined that the Jordan national team aren't as physical as the European opponents, hence, the match might be slightly easier for them.
Meanwhile, the Indian football team received a boost as ATK Mohun Bagan players joined the camp after their AFC Cup campaign. Speaking about their addition, the head coach said:
“They came very late (on May 26, 2022, morning) after playing three games in seven days, and hence, we need to be careful with them. We still have over 36 hours ahead for them to recover, and I will be making a decision whether to field them or not on 28th morning."
Indian football team for the friendly against Jordan
The 25-member squad for the match is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Laxmikanth Kattimani, Amrinder Singh
Defenders: Rahul Bheke, Pritam Kotal, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Anwar Ali, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhashish Bose, Roshan Singh, Akash Mishra
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jeakson Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Glan Martins, Brandon Fernandes, Ritwik Das, Yasir Mohammad, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Wangjam, Ashique Kuruniyan, Liston Colaco
Forwards: Ishan Pandita, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh
