A wasteful India managed to beat lowly Combodia 2-0 in their campaign opener of AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers, third round at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Wednesday. The Blue Tigers next face Afghanistan at the same venue on Saturday. It will be a much tougher test for India. The IND vs AFG football match will be telecast live. (More Football News)
A will against Afghanistan will put India in a prime spot to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Successive qualifications for the continental event will augur well for a sport that has come under sharp criticism following off-the-field controversies.
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And once again, the focus will be on the mercurial Sunil Chhetri, who scored both the goals in the win against Cambodia. Now the question everyone is asking -- Who after Chhetri? The India captain has now 82 international goals, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (117) and Lionel Messi (86) on the list of active players.
India head coach Igor Stimac, for his part, said that he is "tired of answering this question... When he's (Sunil) with us, I don't care if others are not scoring. If he's not here, then others will start scoring. Why look for someone else when he's scoring two goals every day?"
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The same goes for Afghanistan, more or less. The 'Lions of Khorasan' also continue to rely heavily on the team captain Farshad Noor, and of course, Faysal Shayesteh, who is on the cusp of becoming the country's all-time top-scorer. Shayesteh and Balal Arezou are currently tied on nine goals each.
Afghanistan lost their opener against Hong Kong 2-1, with skipper Farshad Noor scoring the consolation goal in the 81st minute.
India vs Afghanistan football match details
Match: AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers, third-round match between India and Afghanistan;
Date: June 11 (Saturday), 2022;
Kick-off Time: 8:30 PM IST;
Venue: Salt Lake Stadium (Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan), Kolkata, India.
How to watch India vs Afghanistan football match
India vs Afghanistan football match will be telecast on Star Sports 3, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi, Star Sports 1 Tamil and Star Sports 1 Bangla.
Live streaming of IND vs AFG will be available on Disney+ Hotstar and JioTV.
India vs Afghanistan, head-to-head record
This will be the 11th meeting between India and Afghanistan. India lead Afghanistan 6-1, with three matches ending in draws. But India's last win was way back in 2016, and they have shared the spoils in the last two. India's lone defeat against Afghanistan was in the SAFF Championship 2013 Final.
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Despite a seemingly striking head-to-head advantage, India have struggled against Afghanistan in the recent outings. Afghans are known for their physical game; and India, with their frailties, often falter in intense, physical games.
India vs Afghanistan, likely starting XIs
India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Akash Mishra, Sandesh Jhingan, Anwar Ali, Roshan Naorem; Sahal Abdul Samad, Brandon Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa; Liston Colaco, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh.
Afghanistan: Ovays Azizi; Maziar Kouhyar, Haroon Amiri, David Najem; Noor Husin, Farshad Noor, Zelfy Nazary, Omid Popalzay, Sharif Mukhammad; Sandjar Ahmadi, Omran Haydary.
