- PM Modi visit USAOnly the mirror in my washroom and phone gallery see the crazy me : Sara KhanKarnataka rain fury: Photos of flooded streets, uprooted treesCannes 2022: Deepika Padukone stuns at the French Riviera in Sabyasachi outfitRanbir Kapoor And Alia Bhatt's Wedding Pics - Sealed With A KissOscars 2022: Every Academy Award WinnerShane Warne (1969-2022): Australian cricket legend's life in picturesPhotos: What Russia's invasion of Ukraine looks like on the groundLata Mangeshkar (1929-2022): A pictorial tribute to the 'Nightingale of India'PM Modi unveils 216-feet tall Statue of Equality in Hyderabad (PHOTOS)
Hockey India on Monday announced the 20-member squad for the Men's Junior Asia Cup, a qual
- Harmanpreet Singh named FIH Player of the Year, PR Sreejesh gets best goalkeeper award
- World Boxing medallist Gaurav Bidhuri to flag off 'Delhi Against Drugs' movement on Nov 17
- U23 World Wrestling Championship: Chirag Chikkara wins gold as India end campaign with nine medals
- FIFA president Infantino confirms at least 9 African teams for the 2026 World Cup
- Hockey, cricket, wrestling, badminton, squash axed from 2026 CWG in Glasgow
AFC Asian Cup qualifiers draw isn't easy: India coach Last Updated : 01 Feb 2017 02:54:21 PM IST (file photo)
India coach Stephen Constantine on Wednesday played down talks of his side's Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Qualifiers draw being easy.
India have been clubbed with Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar and Macau in Group A.
"On paper it looks favourable. It does give us the hope that we have a legitimate chance to qualify from the group," Constantine told www.the-aiff.com.
"I need to take you back to the draw of the World Cup qualifiers where we were drawn with Guam and Turkmenistan and there was a generic feeling all around -- ‘no problem, we will have it easy,'" Constantine said.
"Myanmar have made it to the final of the Suzuki Cup and on the back of qualifying on merit to the FIFA U-20 World Cup under their German coach, they are a very difficult team to play at home."
Constantine explained why it won't be smooth sailing for India, who have improved their ranking to 129.
Constantine said that the team will assemble in the second week of March to prepare for the Asian Cup qualifiers. India play their first match against Myanmar on March 28.
"The plan is to assemble on the weekend of March 11th or 12th as the players would start to assemble after their respective Hero I-League games. But there would be boys who would be involved in the AFC Cup and we will only have them available some days later."
Asked whether India would be playing a friendly before the qualifiers, Constantine said, "Given that we are playing an away game first, we want to play an international friendly on our way to Myanmar. It would benefit us to have valuable match practice as the intensity of international football is different to domestic football."
He added,"Let me reiterate, Myanmar won't ever be an easy opposition away or even at home."
_
_SHOW_MID_AD__
For Latest Updates Please-
Join us on
Follow us on
172.31.16.186