Though the Indian football fraternity is small, it is very knowledgeable and in recent times is growing. The current head coach tried to install the possession-based buildup gameplay for the National Team and by recent performances we can see he has been able to do it to some extent, at least against weaker opponents. The current crop of Indian players especially the young boys are a little better on the ball than what we were used to see over the last 4-5 decades.
The credit for this also goes to some academies formed recently, eg Minerva Academy, Sudeva Delhi's academy, Classic Football Academy by former Indian International Rennedy Singh, etc.
India has qualified for the 2024 AFC Asian Cup. In the premier Asian competition previously India has qualified for 1964, 1984, 2011, and 2019. In 1964 we were runners-up, but after then started the downfall of Indian Football as popularly known within Indian Football Fraternity. But interestingly for the 1st time, India has qualified for both the 2019 and 2023 Asia Cup consecutively.
The 2023 Asia Cup has been postponed to 2024 January as host China backed out at the last moment and a new host country had to be decided which would be World Cup hosts Qatar. The new AIFF administration has arranged several competitive fixtures for the current Indian National Team under coach Igor Stimac. Until now India has faced mostly comparatively weaker teams on paper except the Kyrgyz Republic and Lebanon who can be said to be at the same level as India.
India would be facing Kuwait in the third group stage match of the SAFF Championship 2023 tomorrow. Experts are considering Kuwait will be the toughest challenge India would face until now. Before going to Kuwait's gameplay it would be better if we know a few things about Kuwait. If You would search you find Kuwait's FIFA ranking of 143 but that ranking is not a reflection of the quality of their football.
Kuwait was banned for several months since 2015 which caused their ranking to go down. By their standards, Kuwait should be around 80-90 FIFA ranking. That's why many are considering Kuwait will be the 1st test for India. Coming to Kuwait's gameplay, they do short passing and quick buildup, they do have creative players, players who run behind the defense line, and players who position themselves well inside the opposition box.
So, if India would be able to showcase a convincing performance then we can say they this country has moved somewhere from before and we are developing slowly as a footballing Nation.
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