India to lock horns with Nepal in a friendly

What’s the story?

The Indian football team is set to lock horns with neighbours Nepal in an international friendly match on the 6^th of June. The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) confirmed the fixture via a statement, which was released today.

It read, "The Nepal National men's team will be playing an international friendly against India National team in Mumbai on June 6. "The All India Football Federation approached the ANFA for the friendly. The friendly will be benefitting both the teams as they are preparing for the second matches of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers.”

The context

This comes right after the news that India’s scheduled friendly against Lebanon had to be cancelled due to visa issues. The Lebanese FA wanted their squad members to be given visa on arrival as most of the players play in foreign leagues and it becomes hard to procure prior visas.

However, the Indian Government was adamant that Lebanese citizens will not be provided visas on arrival.

The heart of the matter

India had played Nepal as recently as in March in a two-legged tie in the first qualifying round of the World Cup qualifiers. India won the home match 2-0 while the away game was a goalless draw. India are currently ranked 100^th in the world, 73 places above their neighbouring nation.

The match against Nepal will now go on the same date as the Lebanon tie in Mumbai.

What’s next?

India are scheduled to take on Kyrgyzstan in the AFC Asian Cup qualifier on the 13^th of June. The Blue Tigers are currently at the top of the group table, having beaten Myanmar 1-0 in the first match.

This friendly comes as some respite for Indian football as preparations will now be somewhat ideal before the qualifier next month. The AIFF were looking for a replacement and it did not take them long to find one.

Author’s take

It is good that the friendly has been announced at the earliest. Now the focus will purely be on performances on the pitch rather than off it. A far cry from a challenging fixture against Lebanon, yet something is better than nothing. All eyes on June 6 now.