New Delhi: Ahead of India’s participation in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel termed the country’s fourth participation in the continental championship as a “precursor to Indias goal to achieve a berth in the FIFA World Cup by 2026.”
“The Asian dream needs to be achieved by 2026 as there will be 8 teams from Asia in the FIFA World Cup,” Patel said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
“You just always cannot live a dream and we have to make the Asian dream a reality. And with the form the national team is in, and if Sunil Chhetri and everybody can pull their feet together, we can make it a reality,” he added.
The Indian team had earlier participated in the AFC Asian Cup in 1964, 1984 and 2011.
“We should always go for the maximum and we should try to win the tournament, let alone get out of the group stages. We are mentally and physically prepared. We wish the team all the very best and they have the full support of the AIFF,” Patel stated.
“The whole nation should support the national team and should fully get behind them. It is imperative that the nation roots for them and as the tournament is in UAE, I hope we will get a lot of support there.” National team skipper Sunil Chhetri heaped praise on his teammates.
“The reasons that we have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 is because players like Sandesh Jhingan, Gurpreet Singh Sandh, Anirudh Thapa, Jeje and Udanta Singh and all others. It is because of these players that I go on the pitch without any pressure. They do all the hard work while I just tap the ball in,” he said.
India has been drawn in Group A of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 along with hosts UAE, Thailand and Bahrain. They will play their first match against Thailand on January 6, followed by hosts UAE on January 10 and Bahrain on January 14.
“The Asian Cup is a massive tournament for India and everyone involved in the sport. We have three games from January 6-14 and I am focusing on them. We will take one game at a time and we have scouted Thailand intensively to the point that we have watched them 3-4 times for analysis,” head coach Stephen Constantine said.
“We look forward to make India proud,” Constantine added. (IANS)
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