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Start: Saturday, January 13 at 5 p. m. IST
Venue: Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan
Telecast in India: Sports18 Network, online live streaming on JioCinema
Big picture? This is just about the biggest picture look-in Indian football can get. The AFC Asian Cup is the highest level the national team plays at, and it doesn’t get much tougher than an opening match-up against confederation super heavyweights Australia. On paper India are ranked 101 in the world and Australia 25 but the difference in the standings of both teams were truly underlined when the respective head coaches answered a common question ahead of their match: what is your target for the tournament? India coach Igor Stimac said, “Our target is a good performance, to grow through next three games as a team, as a country in football, and to use the experience from this tournament in the future”. His counterpart Graham Arnold said, simply… “win it”
It is this gap that Stimac and his men will have to bridge come Saturday. In that pre-match press conference, Stimac said he was well aware of the difficulty, but that they were there to “embrace the challenge.”
He said that underdog or not, the “fearlessness” that he’d imbibed in the team over the last five years would mean that his team would not back down from a fight. “We’re not going to give up on our idea and our football, we’re not going to sit back, we didn’t come here to defend at the edge of the box,” he said. “We’re going to go out there and try and enjoy to our football.”
Although Stimac insisted he would not let his team play overtly defensive football, he said his main task is to prevent Australia from playing to their strengths. “Let’s stop the distribution on the flanks, and if we can’t do it, let’s stop the centers from arriving. “
Australia’s aerial risk is very real: in Mitchell Duke, they have a centre-forward who dominates in the air, and in Harry Souttar, a centre-back who is possibly the biggest aerial risk in the tournament from set pieces. a typhoon to come,” Stimac said.
Meanwhile, Australian midfielder Jackson Irvine, who accompanied Arnold to the press, agreed with his coach’s assertion that they would take India lightly: “We saw the technical quality of India, the way they can play through us, the way they press aggressively. “
The Aussies are hoping for a smart start to the tournament and must give in. As Arnold said, “We’ve set our standards, we have to live up to them. “
Graham Arnold has had Australia stand toe-to-toe with world champions Argentina in the 2022 World Cup round-of-16, and has led them to two Asian Cup quarterfinals (2007 and 2019). He’ll want to go further this time around.
(Most recent first)
Australia: WWWWL
Australia have won four and lost just one of their last five matches. And that loss was a narrow one in a friendly against England in October – this is a serious outfit who are playing well at the moment.
India: LWLLD
The last five games have been the most difficult for India. However, the only win of this era is significant, beating Kuwait 1-0 in their World Cup qualifier (second round). Stimac has complained before, and you can see why: that his team didn’t play any friendly matches before the tournament. Their last match was at the end of November, when Qatar, the reigning Asian champions, beat them 3-0.
Total Played: 9
Australia wins: 5
India wins: 3 (in 1938 and twice in 1956)
Giveaways: At this point, it’s simple. The only tie came in 1938.
Fun fact: One of India’s victories in 1956 came in the quarterfinals of the Melbourne Olympics. The biggest recent match (the only one played after 1981) was the humiliating 4-0 that Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell and their teammates conceded to India. in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The only player from both teams who played that match and is still there? One Mr. Sunil Chhetri.
For India
India have a lot of questions to answer tactically, from how to have compatibility in Brandon Fernandes as a replacement for Sahal Abdul Samad to how they plan to compensate for the physical loss of Jeakson Singh. You can read all about it here.
For Australia
Matt Ryan is Australia’s only injury worry, but Arnold was confident he would be able to start the campaign against India. Australia have the tactical acumen and technical ability to break down India… Arnold’s primary concern will be to ensure his team maintains their intensity.
For India
Oh, also expect Sandesh Jhingan to have a very busy night as Australia bombards Indian boxes with crosses.
For Australia
Mitchell Duke, goal of all crosses and 12 goals in 33 games for NT. Also Harry Souttar, if these centers go through a constant situation.
India (4-2-3-1): Gurpreet Sandhu (GK); Nikhil Poojary, Sandesh Jhingan, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose; Apuia, Suresh Singh Wangjam; Manvir Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Naorem Mahesh Singh; Sunil Chhetri
Australia (4-2-3-1): Matt Ryan (Goalkeeper); Ryan Strain, Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess, Aziz Behich; Keanu Baccus, Jackson Irvine; Martin Boyle, Connor Metcalfe, Craig Goodwin; Mitchell Duc