"Football knowledge in India is so low. You can't criticize points you don't understand. I just ask patience from the fans. Nothing else"
-Football legend Stimac!
Cannot imagine his arrogance after qualifying for Asia Cup.
Almost 14 years ago I watched India vs Afghanistan in Hyderabad which we won 1-0 even today we just managed 2-1. Nothing has changed except marketing and new sahal fans. Its ok to celebrate but nothing to hype about.
For me personally SC was a better coach and win against Thailand was best ever Indian NT competitive match I ever watched !
So now we have qualified for 2 out of 2 Asian Cups since making it a 24 team affair.
Take the "back-to-back qualification for the first time in history" with a pinch of salt because that may have been possible only because AFC expanded the tournament to 24 teams.
Qualifying to this tournament should be a norm and the opposite should be considered a huge failure. Our aim now should be to qualify to knockouts.
Spot on. I remember when we qualified in 2011 through challenge cup, the opposition was still quality or atleast at par with current crop. But still everyone called it backdoor entry. I am happy that AFC with this new format, has officialised this backdoor entry through participation of 24 nations. Earlier qualification processes were crap. Probably a 1vs 1 qualification game to be amongs the top members pitching to qualify. Anyways kudos and congrats to team India. I am sure will see a lot of changes in todays game post this result
Also, Tajikistan are set to make their debut in this tournament. Philippines can still technically make it, but they need a favour from either Bangladesh or Nepal. So I guess they are definitely out.
So now we have qualified for 2 out of 2 Asian Cups since making it a 24 team affair.
Take the "back-to-back qualification for the first time in history" with a pinch of salt because that may have been possible only because AFC expanded the tournament to 24 teams.
Qualifying to this tournament should be a norm and the opposite should be considered a huge failure. Our aim now should be to qualify to knockouts.
yes. well put. since they made it like UEFA by expanding to 24 teams, teams like Wales, Scotland, N.Ireland, Ireland also qualified for Euros. This is good for countries with huge fan following and to include them because they just miss out due to some bad results in final rounds.
From now onwards qualifying for Asian cup should be a regular affair. Failure to qualify for Asian cup should lead to sacking of the coach.
They just defeated Yemen. Eventhough they didn't qualify, they'll be happy about this result at home.
They used to be eliminated at the first knock-out rounds in earlier campaigns. This year they defeated Brunei in first round on aggregate, then got two wins, each against Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, in group stage and qualified directly to Asian Cup Qual Third round. And today they defeated Yemen to wrap up their campaign.
Comments
Wow. We have qualified to AFC Asian Cup. Congratulations to everyone.
As G_K mentioned, total 7 teams qualified after this game.
India, Palestine , Uzbekistan , Thailand, Hong Kong , Tajikistan & Kyrgyzstan
Almost 14 years ago I watched India vs Afghanistan in Hyderabad which we won 1-0 even today we just managed 2-1. Nothing has changed except marketing and new sahal fans. Its ok to celebrate but nothing to hype about.
For me personally SC was a better coach and win against Thailand was best ever Indian NT competitive match I ever watched !
Take the "back-to-back qualification for the first time in history" with a pinch of salt because that may have been possible only because AFC expanded the tournament to 24 teams.
Qualifying to this tournament should be a norm and the opposite should be considered a huge failure. Our aim now should be to qualify to knockouts.
Also, Tajikistan are set to make their debut in this tournament. Philippines can still technically make it, but they need a favour from either Bangladesh or Nepal. So I guess they are definitely out.
From now onwards qualifying for Asian cup should be a regular affair. Failure to qualify for Asian cup should lead to sacking of the coach.
They just defeated Yemen. Eventhough they didn't qualify, they'll be happy about this result at home.
They used to be eliminated at the first knock-out rounds in earlier campaigns. This year they defeated Brunei in first round on aggregate, then got two wins, each against Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan, in group stage and qualified directly to Asian Cup Qual Third round. And today they defeated Yemen to wrap up their campaign.