In the preparation for Asian Qualifiers,India face Jordan in an International Friendly in Doha
Writer : Manav Chowdhury
The Blue tigers will take on Jordan in an international friendly at Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in Qatar.The match against a strong Jordan side will help the the Indian team to know their strength and weakness. In Kolkata, the Blue Tigers also played three practice matches where they lost against ATK Mohun Bagan (1-2), won against I-League All-Stars XI (2-0), and drew when they took on the Bengal Santosh Trophy team (1-1).
Speaking of the FIFA rankings the Blue tigers are placed in 106th position as their opponent is placed in 91th position.
Both the teams faced each other only once ,where “The Chivalrous“(Jordan) came out as winners as they defeated the Blue tigers 2-1 way back in 2018 when Nishu Kumar had scored for India while Shafi & Haddad scored for Jordan after missing a penalty in 9th minute.
Head coach Igor Stimac named 25 players in the squad for the upcoming friendly.
Suresh Wangjam is coming back from an injury and is in the squad. Last season Jamshedpur FC star Ritwik Das is the new addition to the squad. While Mumbai City FC star player and fan favourite Apuia is not included in the list for unknown reasons.
It is expected to be a tough fixture for the Blue Tigers as their previous two international friendly results have resulted in a loss against Bahrain(2-1) and against the European side Belarus(3-0).
Whereas Jordan in the previous match against New Zealand came out as winners as they defeated the Kiwis by 3-1 .
Players to Watch out in the Indian Squad:
1)Brandon Fernandes
Even though Brandon is coming back from an injury but still he will be a key player for the team ,his creativity can create a lot of problems for the opponents and we all know the quality of his set piece delivery.
2)Liston Colaco
Source India Football
He is right now in red hot form Scoring a hat-trick against Bhasundra in the AFC Cup and his consistent performance in the ISL as well ,he will definitely be a player to watch.
3)Roshan Singh
Source IFTWC
Even though he just played 2 international games for the Blue tigers, still his set piece deliveries will be key for the team as coach Stimac has also praised his quality.
After the friendly, the team is set to return to Kolkata on May 30, before resuming their training for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.
India Squad:
GOALKEEPERS : Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Lakshmikant Kattimani,Amrinder Singh.
DEFENDERS : Rahul Bheke,Akash Mishra,Harmanjot Singh Khabra,Roshan Singh,Anwar Ali,Sandesh Jhingan,Subhashish Bose,Pritam Kotal.
MIDFIELDERS : Jeakson Singh,Anirudh Thapa,Glan Martins,Brandon Fernandes,Ritwik Das,Udanta Singh,Yasir Mohammad,Sahal Abdul Samad,Suresh Wangjam,Ashique Kuruniyan,Liston Colaco.
FORWARDS : Ishan Pandita,Sunil Chhetri,Manvir Singh.
Probable Line up:
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK),Roshan Singh,Subhashish Bose, Anwar Ali,Sandesh Jinghan,Jeakson Singh,Anirudh Thapa,Brandon Fernandes,Liston Colaco,Manvir Singh ,Sunil Chhetri.
The match will kickoff at 9:30pm (IST) ,Saturday 28th May,2022.
No telecast update till now.
