The Indian FA have announced that the national team will play friendlies later this year against the two West Asian nations…
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has confirmed that the Indian national football team will play West Asian nations, Lebanon and Palestine later this year as part of their preparations for the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup qualifiers.
India will play Lebanon on June 7th and will clash with Palestine on October 2nd, 2017. Both the countries are ranked below India with Lebanon at 155th spot while Palestine are 134th, just two spots below. As such, Blue Tigers can expect a couple of tough games from the two opponents. The venue for the matches have not been confirmed yet.
Know Your Rivals: Cambodia
Editors' Picks
Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played his final game for Inter Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his Man Utd career is far from over
AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das said: “The AIFF is leaving no stone unturned to provide the best of preparation for the National Team. I hope the two matches would serve as an ideal build-up for future matches in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.”
The Blue Tigers are currently in Phnom Penh to take on Cambodia in an international friendly on March 22nd and will take on Myanmar in the first round of the AFC Asian Cup qualifier on March 28th.
Head coach Steven Constantine thanked the Indian FA and expressed, “The best way to test your growth is to play against stronger teams. Both Lebanon and Palestine are very strong teams and the matches would help the team immensely as we move forward.”