India will start as the underdogs as they face a resurgent Thailand in their AFC Asian cup 2019 opener. The Blue Tigers are the second highest ranked team in their pool but will start as the underdogs. Thailand is the lowest ranked team in the pool but they went to the latter part of world cup qualifiers and played some good football against top ranked teams recently.
Despite the low rank, Thailand are still the heavyweight over India considering their latest turnout.
Sunil Chhetri’s men will next face hosts UAE and this match is expected to be the tougher of all. The home team will be backed by the noisy fans shouting in the stadium and being the highest ranked team in the pool makes them the firm favourites to win the game against India and later top the pool.
India next faces Bahrain in their last pool match and this will be their best chance to beat their rivals and finally secure the third place in the pool and then hope that they become one of the four best teams that finished third in their pool.
Talking about India’s form, the men in blue recently played a draw against the mighty Chinese at their own backyard. It was followed by a game against Jordan, where the second tier Indian team lost 1-2. Stephen Constantine’s team recently played a goalless draw against a strong Oman in pursuit to their preparation for Asian cup.
India’s schedule for AFC Asian cup 2019
India vs Thailand- January 6, 2019 from 7 PM(IST)
India vs UAE- January 10, 2019 from 9.30 PM(IST)
India vs Bahrain- January 14, 2019 from 9.30 PM(IST)
