Football News : AFC Asian Cup 2019: India face Thailand in opener

The Indian football team will begin its campaign at the AFC Asian Cup against Thailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi on January 6. Sunil Chhetri and Co, ranked 97 in the world, is the second best ranked team in Group A, behind hosts, the United Arab Emirates, who are ranked No. 79 on the FIFA list. However, boasting rights based on ranking remain confined to paper. Realistically, the UAE, Bahrain and Thailand are considered stronger sides and India are the pre-tournament underdogs in Group A. All that would obviously change if India manage to start with a win against Thailand, the so called weakest among the three opponents they will face in the preliminary round. With the top two sides set to automatically qualify for the quarter final stage, a win in the opener could put India in the reckoning. Stephen Constantine’s men have shown a lot of grit of late in their latest friendly outings. In October last year, they held China to a 0-0 draw in Suzhou, and narrowly lost the away friendly against Jordan in November (2-1). India also held Oman to a 0-0 draw on December 27, their official build-up game for the AFC Asian Cup.