Sunil Chhetri, the Indian captain, will have the opportunity to add to his record of 80 international goals when the Indian squad takes against 171st-ranked Cambodia on Wednesday to earn a sixth appearance in the AFC Cup competition proper.
Cristiano Ronaldo (117 goals in 188 games) and Lionel Messi (86 goals in 162 games) have been on a scoring rampage, so it’s no surprise that the Indian superstar would want to trample Cambodia Afghanistan (150th), and Hong Kong (147th).
While no one compares their international standards of play, passing Lionel Messi for a while won’t be a terrible feeling for the 37-year-old.
After China’s withdrawal from the Asian Cup in late 2023 or early 2024, Chhetri, who would have spent 17 years in international football, may regard this event as the ‘last frontier’ in his long career.
“I’d want to be qualified. My nation will be there if I am not. So either I’ll be drinking a beer while watching Udanta race, or you’ll be drinking a beer while I sprint. We do, however, want to be present. “Before his 126th International appearance, Chhetri made his intentions known.
This competition provides India with the greatest opportunity to qualify for the Continental trophy with the least fuss, but if India falters against a lower-ranked opponent, Chhetri and coach Igor Stimac will have little room for excuses.
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The Blue Tigers did not have a flawless build-up to the continental extravaganza under Stimac, as they lost all three international friendlies scheduled before the qualifications.
In the meantime, they suffered a humiliating 1-2 loss to ATK Mohun Bagan of the Indian Super League, triumphed 2-1 against I-League All-Stars, and were held to a 1-1 draw by Bengal, the season’s Santosh Trophy runners-up.
It’s been about seven months since they last won an international match, a 3-0 victory against Nepal in the SAFF Championship final on October 16, 2021.
The recent results have been a disappointment for the Stimac-coached team, who put in some tough performances in the World Cup Qualifiers against Asian giants Qatar (a goalless draw) and Oman (goalless win) (1-2 loss after leading till 81st minute).
When up against an “unknown entity” in Cambodia, Chhetri admits that they’ll lose half the war if they don’t perform well against the minnows.
“We’re going to start with them. You’ve already lost half the war if we don’t perform well against Cambodia. “He made the point.
“Right now, all we can think about is Cambodia, and we’re viewing as many videos as we can. After we’ve finished with them, we’ll turn our attention to Afghanistan. Afghanistan is undeniably powerful.” In contrast to the Indian build-up, the ‘Angkor Warriors,’ who have only qualified for the Asian Cup once in 50 years, in 1972, arrive here with a 2-1 home friendly victory against Timor-Leste.
The Cambodians will attempt to stun the home-backed Indians with their Japanese tactician combination of Ryu Hirose and Keisuke Honda at the forefront of coaching activities.
The loss to striker Rahim Ali, who had begun establishing a potent attacking combination alongside the livewire Chhetri, has been the greatest blow for Stimac in recent times from an Indian perspective.
Ali is pushed out with a muscle injury just as he begins to fill the vacuum left by Jeje Lalpekhula, forcing Stimac to hunt for an alternative combination with limited success.
After fresh off, a hat-trick in the AFC Cup, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, and Udanta Singh may provide some alternatives, but it will be tough to equal Ali’s ball control and precision passing.
It would be interesting to observe how Chhetri addresses this difficulty as they attempt to qualify for the continental tournament for the sixth consecutive year.
Sandesh Jhingan’s match fitness and Subhasish Bose’s will be scrutinized in the defence, as they will form the backbone of a side that has recently been chastised for allowing late goals.
After nearly three years away from home, India’s greatest advantage would be the tremendous home support.
After Chhetri expressed amazement and dismay that Kolkata created a frigid reaction to India’s matches as evaluated by the AIFF, the feedback grew overnight.
The AIFF chose to make all tickets “complementary” because they expected a low “response of no more than 5,000,” which would save them money on hosting expenses (to the tune of Rs 16 lakh per match).
“Let the three teams that are scheduled to play against us play against us plus you because it would make a huge difference,” Chhetri said in a social media post since the match is expected to draw a large crowd.
Eleven spots for the 24-team Asian Cup Finals are up for grabs: six group winners and five best runners-up.
Afghanistan will play Hong Kong in the first match of Group D at 4.30 p.m., followed by India at 8.30 p.m.
