Preview: The Blues Tigers look to outclass Cambodia, ahead of their AFC Asian Cup qualifiers

by Chittu Shetty March 21, 2017

After a gap of about 7 months, the Indian national football team are all set to be back in action, as they take on Cambodia this Wednesday in an International friendly.

Playing in their first International game in nearly seven months, this friendly is expected to be a good preparation for the Blue tigers, before they take on Myanmar in their opening game of AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifier.

Ranked currently 173^rd, 41 places below India, the Cambodia National team will be the best opponent for the new guns of Stephen Constantine team to impress the coach; Youngsters like Jerry Larlinzuala, Milan Singh, Nishu Kumar and Daniel Lalhlimpuia could make a mark in the international stage. Anas Edathodika too could get a chance to show his mettle as a replacement for either Arnab Mondal or Sandesh Jhingan, both of whom have been troubled with injuries and poor form lately.

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Despite being an away fixture, anything less than a victory would be considered as a poor results for India and could hurt the confidence leading up to the important AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers.

The Cambodian National team are in poor form having lost all of their last 5 games, the last one being a 7-2 trashing from Saudi Arabia back in January. Cambodia are also seeking for the same winning momentum as they are also set to play Jordan on 28th of march in their 1st game of Asian Cup Qualifiers. The team has made 8 changes in their squad from their previous game, including 7 players under 20, going for fresh legs but an inexperienced one.

India are likely to play in a 4-4-2 formation, with this friendly being a preparation for the AFC Asian Cup qualifier we can expect some new players to be given a chance. On the other end, Cambodia will have the benefit of playing under their new Brazilian coach for the first time, with his strategy, yet to be seen out on field.

Head to Head: Played – 4: India – 3, Cambodia –1, Draw – 0

Last five games: 

India: W, W, W, W, L

Cambodia: L, L, L, L, L

Match Details:

Date: 22-3-2017

Venue: Phnom Penh, Cambodia