Qatar beat Mexico this month so I’m not sure how a lot of fans are calling them beatable. They are also playing against Russia on September 12th
Qatar is no more a same team which has won Asian Cup. In Gold Cup, they are worst even against Mexico and they are lucky to win that game. May be Chelseafan referring our last 2 WCQ games against Qatar and hoping we can alteast aim for a draw.
Imagine if we were drawn in Group D or H. This is a bummer. But we should get a longer camp now. I feel this should be better than a week's camp. AIFF should ensure even for Merdeka cup we get like 5 days of extra prep. This will ensure we play to the best of our strengths. That is all we can hope for. Technically on a given day even Afghanistan can beat us we are not even way better than Afghans. But we all need to agree that even Kuwait is a top 15 team they are not the ones without any weakness though. If anything we know they are physical but their mid is technically on par with ours. We should play these two sides fearlessly. Pressure is on Kuwait as they failed to beat us twice that should play a part in their minds. Pressure is on them. We should just go and do our best!
Last but not least we hope to participate with a full strength squad and not lose anyone in injuries. Our team has more to lose than the other teams in our group if that happens.
Before the draw I joked to my wife (an Indonesian) that there would definitely be a group containing 3 ASEAN teams and she said to not spout "conspiracy theories".
In all seriousness though, a lot of the groups are very tough to call. The fight for second spot in groups A, B, C, F, G, I could go down to the wire, and I really think Oman could find themselves in a real scrap for the top spot. We could see some teams making it to Round 3 for the first time.
In my opinion, AFC's more inclusive joint qualification format has helped many teams to up their level. More competitive games against better sides have enabled many associations to identify the gaps in their development programs and take appropriate action.
Those extolling Qatar's virtues and their so called matches against Mexico and Russia etc, do remember their performance 8n the last World Cup, held at their home soil, and how badly they performed. Also their strikers are known for their profligacy in front of goal and wasting many chances. If course they are a strong team and technically superior players, but to have this much fear of them is not logical, especially going by their recent form and performances against asian teams itself. And Indian team has also improved a lot since 2019 when we held them to a draw. We play better, pass better, are more fitter and are tactically more sound. Yes, it will be a tough match but we can match them if we play to our potential.
Also one thing we are all forgetting is that AFC u23 qualifiers are also scheduled from 6th to 12th Sept, right when we will be playing Kings Cup. And team for that is not announced yet. Assuming the 6-7 u23 players who are core of our NT will be playing Kings Cup, what then would be the likely squad for these qualifiers? I believe the same players should play in these qualifiers and the Asian Games next up in Sept.
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Last but not least we hope to participate with a full strength squad and not lose anyone in injuries. Our team has more to lose than the other teams in our group if that happens.
https://www.sofascore.com/qatar-mexico/GVbsRVb#11232161
It was a lucky win for Qatar.
In all seriousness though, a lot of the groups are very tough to call. The fight for second spot in groups A, B, C, F, G, I could go down to the wire, and I really think Oman could find themselves in a real scrap for the top spot. We could see some teams making it to Round 3 for the first time.
In my opinion, AFC's more inclusive joint qualification format has helped many teams to up their level. More competitive games against better sides have enabled many associations to identify the gaps in their development programs and take appropriate action.
And Indian team has also improved a lot since 2019 when we held them to a draw. We play better, pass better, are more fitter and are tactically more sound. Yes, it will be a tough match but we can match them if we play to our potential.