India’s opening fixture against Thailand will kick-off at IST 7 pm at the Al Nahyan Stadium tomorrow (January 6, 2018), and will be telecast live on Star Sports 3, and streamed live on Hotstar as well.
This is India’s fourth participation in the AFC Asian Cup, the last being in Doha in 2011. On the other hand, Thailand’s best result in the Continental championship came in 1972 when they finished third. Since then, they have failed to overcome the group stage hurdle in all the five occasions they qualified for the final round.
India had finished second in the 1964 edition of the AFC Asian Cup.
Building up to the Continental Championship, Oman, who were held to a goalless draw by the Blue Tigers, got the better of Thailand three days back in a friendly fixture played behind the closed doors in Abu Dhabi.
But Constantine brushed aside on being asked whether India will have a psychological advantage when the Blue Tigers face the War Elephants.
A lot of travelling fans - the Blue Pilgrims have already landed in Abu Dhabi to cheer for the Blue Tigers. At the same time, a lot of expatriate Indians are also expected to throng the Al Nahyan Stadium to cheer loud.
AIFF believed in me and allowed me to continue,” he maintained.
Significantly, India had to traverse the longest path than anyone else to qualify to the quadrennial continental championship. India had played 18 matches, most by any team, to have cemented their berth in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
0 votes
