After unbeaten run at home, Indian football team braces for stern away test | Football News

The perfect birthday gift for India coach Igor Stimac, the Serbian who celebrated his 56th birthday on Wednesday says, would be if his team could defeat Iraq at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai on Thursday. However, the King’s Cup encounter would not be straightforward. For a country invaded the US only two decades ago, Iraq has emerged as a footballing powerhouse, currently ranked 70th in the world, 27 places above India.
But for India, the four-nation knockout tournament holds multiple significance. It would be a perfect portrayal of what’s in store, at least for the next four months. While aware of the challenge that Iraq pose, India won’t be fixated on getting a win and reaching the final where they will play the winners of the other semifinal between Lebanon and Thailand. They’re already looking ahead at their destination, which is the AFC Asian Cup in January. It is just the start of their long and treacherous journey.
Stimac’s side have won three trophies already this year—the Tri-Nation tournament in Imphal in March, the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar in June, and the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru in July. While those results put India back in the top 100 in the FIFA rankings, those tournaments were all played at home. Take nothing away from that India beat Lebanon and Kuwait en route to their title triumphs but the King’s Cup will be India’s biggest test, in terms of conditions, in 2023. It will be the first overseas tour for Stimac’s boys as they prepare for the Asian Cup in Qatar.

King’s Cup 2019: When the winds of change swept the clouds away 🇮🇳
Throwback to India’s last appearance at the #KingsCup 🇹🇭#BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽
Read more ⬇️
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) August 28, 2023
From this tournament till the Asian Cup in January, the national team will play at least one international match every month, a rare occurrence in Indian football. While the national team plays in the King’s Cup, the U-23s will compete in the Asian Championship qualifiers in China. Days later, the U-23 side with three seniors, will take part in the Asian Games.

In October, India travel to Malaysia for the Merdeka Cup. In November, they play the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 Fifa World Cup. If Stiimac has his way, the team will also play a few friendlies in December in the lead-up to the Asian Cup.
Chhetri’s heir
The one issue that has become ubiquitous to the national team is ‘if not captain Sunil Chhetri then who else?’ The skipper has been in tenacious form in front of goal — he was the Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner in the SAFF Championships — but India have struggled to find someone to replace him. Stimac will hope someone steps up at The King’s Cup as Chhetri has opted out of the tournament following the birth of his first child. India have named Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali and Rahul KP as the forwards and all eyes will be on Manvir, especially since he comes at the back of a title-winning Durand Cup campaign.
The return of Brandon Fernandes and Suresh Singh Wangjam gave Stimac a much-needed shot in the arm but the Croatian got a jolt on the eve of the match against Iraq as key players – prolific winger Lallianzuala Chhangte and Akash Mishra look unlikely to make the match squad. Chhangte has reached Thailand with a fever and Mishra is still recovering from a hand injury.

’ #BlueTigers 🇮🇳 will play Iraq 🇮🇶 in the tournament opener on 7️⃣th September 🗓️
Read more 👉🏽 https://t.co/iZLcQeHWZv#IndianFootball ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/wAOOcc9PoI
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) August 16, 2023
India know how difficult a side Iraq is, having played them on six previous occasions, losing five times while managing a draw once, back in 1997. India will take solace from that their last meeting was in 2011, a friendly in Sharjah before the 2011 Asian Cup, which Iraq won 2-0. And Iraq are in supreme form, having beaten Saudi Arabia (ranked 54 in the world), Qatar (59) and Oman (73) this year itself. They also won the Arabian Gulf Cup this year, their first since 1988.
One of the reasons why Iraq have become such a formidable force is because most of their players ply their trade in European Leagues where they compete with the best.
Take for example Zidane Iqbal, who was part of Manchester United’s senior team only last year. A skillful central midfielder who has had the experience of playing with the likes of Casemiro and Marcus Rashford, left Old Trafford to join Dutch top-division side FC Utrecht in the summer. While India will be mindful of Iqbal pulling strings from midfield, they’ll have to keep more than an eye out on Aymen Hussein, arguably the biggest threat in Iraq’s frontline. Hussein currently plays for Moroccan side Raja Casablanca but has the experience of playing for top Asian sides like Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.

India will look to do well against this fancied Iraq side knowing fully well that tougher tests await them in the World Cup qualifiers where they play Qatar and Kuwait and the Asian Cup where they’re drawn with Australia, Uzbekan and Syria. The Blue Tigers will need a miracle to give their coach his perfect gift.
Playing on Thursday: India vs Iraq, 4 pm, Live on Eurosport and FIFA+
India’s Fixtures in coming months
September: King’s Cup, U-23s play the Asian Games
October: Mederka Cup
November: AFC World Cup qualifiers
January: AFC Asian Cup
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The King’s Cup has seen some legends take the pitch, from Brazilian star Ronaldinho to Poland’s highest goalscorer of all time, Robert Lewandowski.
India also won bronze in its first appearance in the King’s Cup in 1977, defeating the likes of South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia.
This will be India’s fourth participation in the tournament, with the most recent one coming in 2019, where they went down to Curacao in the semifinal before beating the host Thailand 1-0 for the bronze medal.