PREVIEW: Asian Cup qualifiers
DOHA: Fresh from their 2-0 win against Bangladesh, the Sunil Chhetri-led India will look to garner full points when they face Afghanistan in their last Group E match of the World Cup 2022 and Asian Cup China 2023 Qualifiers at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium here on Tuesday.
While the 105th-ranked India are out of the race for the World Cup qualification, they only need to avoid defeat against the 149th-ranked Afghanistan to confirm the third spot behind leaders Qatar (22 points) and second-placed Oman (15 points) in Group E.
India are currently on six points -- one more than Afghanistan -- and a win on Tuesday will help them enter the final round of the Qualifiers for the Asian Cup China 2023 on a high.
India's head coach, Igor Stimac, will count on the momentum generated by the 2-0 win against 'tricky customers' Bangladesh on June 7, when Chhetri scored a brace. India had also given a good account of themselves in the opening match against Asian champions Qatar on June 3, when despite being reduced to 10 men they conceded only one goal.
Stimac is likely to field his best team to end India's campaign on a high.
Afghanistan, placed fourth with five points , have had meagre picking here so far. With just one point from two matches, they would target finishing ahead of India on the points table, though finishing fourth too would also likely be enough for them to advance to the final round of Qualifiers for the Asian Cup China 2023. IANS
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