Indian Football: Intercontinental Cup - Know your opponents

With the announcement of the Intercontinental Cup in July this year, Indian Football fans are relieved that Indian Football Team would finally be utilizing the international break efficiently.

With the official confirmation of head coach Igor Stimac's appointment still on hold, fans would see India play back to back tournaments this summer; the Thailand King's Cup in June and the Intercontinental cup in July, which is likely to be held in Ahmedabad.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) confirmed on Monday evening that Syria, along with DPR Korea and Tajikistan, would be participating in the second edition of the Intercontinental Cup, between July 7-17, 2019.

India would be determined to defend their title under the new, yet to be announced, head coach. But before that, here is a quick run-through about the opponents that India will have to face in the forthcoming Intercontinental Cup.

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#3 DPR Korea

DPR Korea Football Taam

DPR Korea have enjoyed both success and defeat at the world stage. The top-most achievement for them, in this decade, has been their qualification to the FIFA World Cup in 2010, where they faced Portugal and Brazil in the group-stage.

In AFC Asian Cup, they qualified in 2011, 2015 and 2019 in this decade, but failed to leave an impact in any of them, as they couldn't go past the group-stage. To make matters worse, the Korean side failed to win a single game in the 2019 edition of the AFC Asian Cup and are currently on a four-match losing streak.

Against India, they have enjoyed a good record, having won 5 out of the 8 meetings while drawing in the other three. They also won the 1993 edition of the Nehru Cup, an International tournament organised by the AIFF.

Headed by Kim Yong-Jun, the Koreans are 20 spots below India, at 121 in the FIFA World Rankings.

#2 Tajikistan

Tajikistan Football Team

To be fair, Tajikistan Football Team has not been playing the right chords for a while now. They have had no records, either in the FIFA World Cup or in the AFC Asian Cup.

Ranked at 120th in the most recent FIFA rankings, the Tajiks have only won twice in their last ten meetings. Manuchekhr Dzhalilov, Tajikistan all time top-scorer, has scored 14 times in 24 games, ever since his debut in 2011.

On the other hand, neither can India boast of having any success against them as the Blue Tigers have themselves won only once in the last four clashes while drawing in the other two. Tajikistan won the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup, also their first International tournament, back in 2006, but failed to win it again in the following season after losing at the hands of India in the 2008 final.

In the 2008 final of the AFC Challenge Cup, which was held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, Sunil Chhetri's hat-trick inspired the Blue Tigers' 4-1 win, which incidentally, also enabled them to qualify for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

#1 Syria

Syria Football Team

Ranked highest of the four team in this competition, at 83 in the FIFA Rankings, Syria have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup on five occasions. They also won the West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2012, which included elite Western Asian teams like Iran and Iraq.

Even though they failed to win a single game in the recently concluded Asian Cup, they managed to give a stern test to Australia, in a game which ended in a 3-2 win for the Socceroos.

Against India, they have won twice in the five meetings they have had. India would be looking forward to extend their winning statistics against Syria, a much better team, to four games when they face them in July. Their captain, Firas Al Khatib, who has a record of 31 goals in 64 appearances, would be the one to look out for in the upcoming tournament this summer.