India eyes victory against weakened Afghanistan

ABHA: Bolstered by the return of Jeakson Singh and Anwar Ali, the Indian football team will renew its quest for a maiden entry into the third round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers when it faces a weakened Afghanistan on Thursday.

With mid-field general Jeakson and centre-back Anwar back in the line-up after long injury layoffs, because of which India suffered in recent past, the Blue Tigers will fancy its chances against the lower-ranked opponents in the second-round preliminary joint qualification match.

With three points and one win from two matches, India currently occupy the second place in the Group A pecking order.

Reigning Asian champions Qatar lead the standings with six points from two wins, while Kuwait is second with one win. Having lost both their games so far, Afghanistan is placed last.

India’s away win against Kuwait has put Igor Stimac’s team in a strong position to progress further in the qualification cycle, something the 117-ranked side has never achieved.

Victories in their upcoming outings (away and home) against the 158-ranked Afghanistan will help India acquire nine points and with Qatar expected to win their next two matches against Kuwait, the Blue Tigers have a real chance of jumping to second place in the standings.

India defeated Kuwait (1-0) in Kuwait City in its opening match of the qualifiers, before losing to Qatar (0-3) in Bhubaneswar.

Since their first-ever meeting way back in 1949, India and Afghanistan have met regularly and the regional rivalry has not run its course even after the latter left SAFF in 2016.

Nobody in this Indian squad can tell about Afghanistan better than the evergreen Sunil Chhetri, who is going strong at 39 and will be spearheading the visiting attack alongside Manvir Singh, who found the net in the team’s win against Kuwait..What also makes India favourites in the game is the absence of some key Afghanistan players, who have been at loggerheads with the Afghanistan Football Federation (AFF) since accusing the sport body of indulging in corruption, including match-fixing.

Still, players such as Zohib Islam Amiri, Omid Musawi and Balal Arezou will look to cause problems for India.