India tackle Vietnam of their 2026 AFC Asian Cup opener right this moment at 4.30 PM, and you’ll comply with all of the motion reside proper right here:
Sangita Basfore, midfield lynchpin and scorer of the essential objectives that took India previous Thailand of their crunch Asian Cup qualifier instructed ESPN that she and this group have all the time had the World Cup in thoughts – even earlier than they performed their qualifier, that ambition was what drove them on. Now that they’re right here, inside touching distance of changing into the primary Indian group to ever qualify for a senior FIFA World Cup, it’s crucial that they robust in a tricky group.
Standing of their approach right this moment are a group they’ve by no means beat in a aggressive fixture — Vietnam. They have, as Sunaadh writes here, elevated their standing within the recreation. They have now certified for 10 straight Asian Cups and will probably be aiming for a deep run and at the very least a repeat of their 2022 displaying the place they reached the quarterfinals and certified for the World Cup for the primary time. That was the version which India hosted and acquired kicked out of as a result of they could not area sufficient gamers after a COVID-19 outbreak hit the group.
India’s coach Amelia Valverde has had simply two months with the group after being appointed late, and she or he has an attention-grabbing mixture of expertise and youth to work with. What meaning is that India’s finest participant, Manisha Kalyan (who plies her commerce in Peru) hasn’t had a coaching session with the brand new coach earlier than the group landed in Australia for this event. Just how a lot of a problem that is will solely be recognized as soon as we kickoff at 4.30 IST.
