The Blue Tigers who beat Cambodia in their first match on Wednesday could take a giant step towards confirming their presence in next year's AFC Asian Cup finals with a victory on Saturday.
The Blue Tigers are currently sitting at the top of the points table in Group D after their win over Cambodia in their first match while Anoush Dastgir's men who faced a defeat against Hong Kong in their first match need a win to stay in contention for an AFC Asian Cup berth.
The Blue Tigers played 776 passes among themselves with 705 accurate passes, as India beat Cambodia 2-0, both goals coming in from Sunil Chhetri - one in each half. There were also 24 shots on the rival goal.
A brace from captain Sunil Chhetri (14', 59') gave India the victory in their first game of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers 2023 as they comfortably defeated Cambodia.
Thapa who was part of the Indian team at the AFC Asian Cup 2019, suggested that the current team has improved a lot in terms of the quality of players since their previous appearance in the continental showpiece and believes they can make the cut to the competition again.
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 7 (ANI): India football head coach Igor Stimac believes his team are fully prepared and is hopeful of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup finals as they take on Cambodia in the third round of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolka
India are chasing a fifth appearance in the Asian Cup finals tournament. The Blue Tigers aim to qualify for back-to-back Asian Cups for the first time ever. Previously, India have featured in the 1964, 1984, 2011, and 2019 editions.
Ranked higher than Cambodia, the Blue Tigers will start as the favourites in the match and history is also against the Angkor Warriors who don't have the best of records against the Igor Stimac's men.
The Goa-born forward although is not a stranger to the Salt Lake Stadium, having featured for his club side ATK Mohun Bagan in the recently-concluded AFC Cup group stage matches.