India Begin AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Journey Against Cambodia

Joy Banerjee | 8 Jun 2022

The Blue Tigers begin their Asian Cup Group D qualifiers campaign against Cambodia from today, and the match will be taking place at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium), in Kolkata.

More than 50,000 fans are expected to be present, after Sunil Chhetri’s statement of losing home advantage, if stands remained empty.

Fans would be demanding a much more open football much like AIFF technical committee chairman Shyam Thapa, from Igor Stimac’s men, as opposed to his ultra-defensive approach that has been demonstrated by the team lately.

Some young talents are to be watched out for in Stimac’s squad, who have emerged from this season’s Indian Super League and the I-League –

Liston Colaco (Mohun Bagan)

Akash Mishra ( Hyderabad FC)

Sahal Abdul Samad (Kerala Blasters)

Ishan Pandita (Jamshedpur FC)

Jeakon Singh (Kerala Blasters)

All the opponents are lower ranked than the Indian team and thus they would be the favourites against Cambodia today and would be expected to qualify for the cup.