Page 5 - Indian Football Team

AFC Asian Cup: India football full schedule, match timings, live streaming

The Indian football team is set to begin their campaign against Australia on January 13. Jio Cinemas will livestream AFC Asian Cup matches in India.

People should give Mahesh bhai credit for our clean sheets: Sandesh Jhingan

India have had nine clean sheets in 2023 and star centre-back Sandesh Jhingan on Wednesday attributed the defenders' success in the year gone by to the team's assistant coach, Mahesh Gawli, one of the top stoppers of his time. While the players did the job on the field, the man quietly working behind the scenes was former India centre-back Gawali. The respect that Gawali commands within the dressing room as one of the best defenders of his time and as an assistant coach is massive. "Mahesh bhai has been one of the stalwarts of the game during his days as a player, and now we learn so much from his experience," Jhingan said. "What he's done for the country is immense, it's just great to have him around. People should give him a lot of credit when they praise us for keeping clean sheets." Gawli, 43, played for India in 68 matches between 2000 and 2011, marshalling the team's defence alongside people like Deepak Mondal and then Gouramangi Singh. Speaking about Gawli, Jhingan said, "

Asian Cup Football 2024: Australia, Uzbekistan miles ahead admits Chhetri

Talismanic captain Sunil Chhetri has no qualms in admitting that India's group opponents Australia and Uzbekistan are notches above his side in quality but playing against them in the upcoming Asian Cup will be a marker to test the country's level of the game. Drawn in Group B in the continental showpiece, India face Australia on January 13, before taking on Uzbekistan (January 18) and Syria (January 23). The top two teams from each group along with four best third-place sides from across six groups progress to the knockout stage. It's a massive tournament for us, purely because we get to rub shoulders with the best in Asia. Teams like Australia and Uzbekistan are probably of the World Cup level, so you can test yourself against them, Chhetri said. What is sure is that we have improved in the last seven-eight years. But then you play them and you see how far you are, and how the tempo of the game is. It's just important to play your best, and generally it's a good marker for the ...

Asian Cup football 2023: India announce 26-member squad, Chhetri to lead

India will start their campaign on Saturday, January 13 against Australia at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan

Players' strength of character key to final line-up of Asian Cup: Stimac

Lined up to face strong sides like Australia and Uzbekistan in the AFC Asian Cup football in Doha next month, India head coach Igor Stimac on Friday said "strength of character" will be the parameter to decide who will be included in the final squad. India are clubbed with formidable Australia, strong central Asian side Uzbekistan and tricky Syria -- all above Stimac's team in the FIFA rankings -- in the group stage of the Asian Cup from January 13 onwards. All the boys in the (probable) list are similar in their football qualities. What we are looking for the final list of 26 is definitely experience, physical strength, and the final line will be drawn by the strength of their character, Stimac said on the All India Football Federation's social media handles. This is very important for us as a team, because no matter the talent, if there is no character nothing can be achieved, he added. Stimac will announce his final 26 players before the team's departure on Saturday. Regarding

Asian Cup football: Down with ankle injury, Anwar Ali misses Team India cut

India will be missing its key central defender Anwar Ali because of his ankle injury in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup in Qatar starting from January 12. Down with a fractured right ankle, the 23-year-old left-footed central defender has been excluded from the 50-member India probables named on Thursday. A key member of head coach Igor Stimac's defence, Anwar's injury will upset the Croat's plans as he has taken a gamble to include midfielder Jeakson Singh in the probable. The Kerala Blasters footballer too is down with an injury (shoulder) as it remains to be seen if he makes the final cut of 23 ahead of their Asian Cup opener against Australia on January 13. In the absence of Anwar, the defence is expected to be helmed by Sandesh Jhingan, Pritam Kotal and Subhasish Bose. Anwar's Mohun Bagan teammate Ashique Kuruniyan, who is down with an ACL injury, has not been named in the probables on expected lines. India, 102 in the FIFA rankings, is the lowest rung side in its Group B as Stim

World Cup 2026 Qualifier India vs Qatar highlights: India lose 0-3 to Qatar

India vs Qatar football match highlights: Qatar would have won by a bigger margin had they not missed several chances while dominating throughout the 90 minutes at the Kalinga Stadium.

IND vs QAT football: Nothing to lose but a hell of a lot to gain - Stimac

Head coach Igor Stimac on Monday said that India have nothing to lose but a hell of a lot to gain in their 2026 FIFA World Cup round 2 qualifiers match against Asian champions Qatar here on Tuesday. India's 1-0 away win against Kuwait on November 16 will certainly boost their confidence but Stimac made it clear that "Qatar is out of our league", though the home side will seek to take inspiration from their famous goal-less draw against the Asian champions four years ago. "The Kuwait game was the most important game in our qualifiers in this group. We had an away win against our direct opponent for the second spot," Stimac said at the pre-match press conference. "We are very realistic, we know that Qatar is out of our league. But we also know that this is football, the most beautiful game in the world which provides opportunities and this is our opportunity." Stimac urged his players to consider Tuesday's match at the Kalinga Stadium as any other game and give their best. "We all k

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: Manvir helps India beat Kuwait 1-0 in away match

Manvir Singh struck a late goal as India beat Kuwait 1-0 in their 2026 FIFA World Cup second round qualifiers match here on Thursday. Manvir scored with a left-footed shot in the 75th minute as he connected a Lallianzuala Chhangte cross to help India win the match at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium here. Kuwait ended the match with 10 men as their player Faisal Alharbi was sent off after picking his second yellow card in the third minute of the added time for a high boot challenge on Chhangte. India play Asian champions Qatar next on November 21 in Bhubaneswar. India are placed in Group A alongside Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan with the top two from the group progressing to the third round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The top two teams from each group will also secure qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. The Blue Tigers have never advanced to the third round of AFC's FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Ranked 106th in the world, India had beaten Kuwait (149th) on penal

AIFF sacks its secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran due to trust deficit

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has sacked its secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran due to "trust deficit", a top official said on Wednesday. AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey served the termination letter on Tuesday to Prabhakaran, who got the high-profile job on September 3 in 2022. "The AIFF president has issued the termination letter to Prabhakaran. He is no longer the AIFF Secretary General," AIFF vice-president NA Haris told PTI. "Deputy secretary general Satyanarayan M will discharge his duties as acting secretary general," he added. Haris said there has been a "trust deficit" between Chaubey and Prabhakaran and even the AIFF executive committee members are not happy with the way the sacked secretary general worked. Prabhakaran was appointed at the first executive Committee meeting of the new dispensation which took charge after the elections on September 2. He was earlier serving as Football Delhi president. He resigned from that post and took charge as AIFF secretary

Indian football team coach Stimac's contract extended until 2026

Senior national team head coach Igor Stimac's contract has been extended until 2026, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Thursday, rewarding him for overseeing three title triumphs this year. As per the contract, the Croat will automatically get an extension by another two years if India qualify for the third round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Former India stopper Mahesh Gawli, the assistant coach of the senior men's team, was appointed as the head coach of the men's U-23 team. Stimac, a member of the Croatia side that finished third at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, took charge of the Blue Tigers in 2019 and has won four major titles with the side, including two SAFF Championships. "The federation, the members have decided to extended the contract of our national team, Igor Stimac, until the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers. We have agreed to this, agreed to continue as one team," AIFF secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran said during a virtual interaction. Stimac w

Asian Games Highlights, Day 5: Gold in Shooting, IND 5th in medals tally

Asian Games 2023 Highlights, Day 5: India won gold, silver and bronze in Shooting, Wushu and Equestrian respectively to finish with a total of 25 medals and lie in the 5th place in the medals tally

We need to play as cohesive unit against Saudi Arabia, says Sunil Chhetri

Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri feels they will have to play as a "cohesive unit" if they are to challenge the mighty Saudi Arabia in their round of 16 match at the Asian Games here on Thursday. Chhetri is aware of the problems India is facing during their current campaign in Hangzhou. He is also conscious of India's dismal track record against Saudi Arabia and the strength of the West Asian side. He believes that if India can stick to the right strategies and his young teammates continue to play as a cohesive unit as they did in the three earlier outings, then the pre-quarter-final battle could be a tantalising one. "We were shown a lot of clips from the Saudi games by our coach, not only the ones that they played here but also a few of their matches from the recent past. He spoke about different ways in which we go out and apply ourselves. "On the face value, they are a very good side with a lot of good, decent players, who are good with the ball...a lot of quality in

Asian Games 2023: Football coach Stimac lauds Sunil Chhetri and Jhingan

Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac has lauded senior players Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhingan for "brilliantly" guiding the younger team-mates after the side qualified for the round of 16 in Asian Games despite a controversial build-up. A rag-tag team with just Chhetri and Jhingan as notable names was assembled in the eleventh hour after the Indian Super League clubs refused to release their players named in the original squad. The team reached Hangzhou just hours before the first group match was to be played. The team lost 1-5 to China after playing the match without a single training session. The strategy sessions were held in flight and on transit. A 1-0 win over Bangladesh and a 1-1 draw against Myanmar took the team to knockouts as group runners-up, and they will face mighty Saudi Arabia in their round of 16 match on Thursday. "We qualified for the knockouts round despite all the problems. I am very proud of the boys especially for Sunil and Sandesh. They led these .

Asian Games 2023 Day 1 Highlights: India bag 5 medals in rowing, shooting

Asian Games 2023 Day 1 Highlights: The Indian team won five medals in rowing and shooting while it secured a medal by qualifying for final in women's cricket

Asiad 2023: India football teams' full schedule, squads, match timings

Indian men's and women's football teams have been drawn in groups where chances of them moving ahead to the knockout stage at the Asian Games are bright

Asian Games 2023 full India schedule, timings, medal hopefuls, streaming

Check the Asian Games 2023 full schedule of India from September 24 to October 8 in Hangzhou 2022 Games. Women's

Asian Games 2023 Highlights: India lose to Chinese Taipei in women football

Asian Games 2023 Highlights: The Indian women's football team lost 1-2 to Chinese Taipei while the men's football team beat Bangladesh 1-0. Women's cricket team moved to semifinal, Rowers did well

Asian Games schedule today: IND vs MAL cricket, IND vs BAN football & more

Indian women's cricket team will be in action on September 21 in Asian Games 2023 along with men's and women's football teams, rowing and sailing in Asiad

Asiad 2023: After China debacle, India face Bangladesh in must-win match

Battered by hosts China in their opening match after playing without any training session, India will be up against a tricky Bangladesh side in their must-win group match in the Asian Games football competition here on Thursday. A rag-tag Indian team reached here late Monday evening and played its first match without proper rest and sleep and was hammered 1-5 by China on Tuesday. Igor Stimac's team needs to beat Bangladesh in its second Group A game to remain in the fray for the knock-outs. A loss on Thursday may not straightway knock India out of reckoning as the best third-placed teams from the six groups can also advance to the Round of 16, but that will leave the team with a lot of uncertainties in the final game. Qualifying as one of the best four third-place teams could also set India up against tougher sides in the pre-quarterfinals. Bangladesh have never been an easy side for India in any level and they will also be desperate for a win after losing their opening match 0-1