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What's the story?
In a rather disappointing turn of events for Indian, Football Association of Thailand (FAT) has rejected the country’s proposal of playing a friendly with the South East Asian country. Thailand has instead arranged a fixture with Asian heavyweights China.
In case you didn't know...
China and India had both shown interest in playing Thailand around the same time. India are currently ranked 97th as per the latest FIFA rankings, while Thailand are ranked 122nd. The International friendly would have been a preparation for India ahead of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
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The heart of the matter
Somyot Poompunmuang, the President of FAT, said that arranging two matches in such a short time will be impossible, so they have opted to play against China, which is a higher ranked side than India. China is currently ranked 73rd in the world and is one of the powerhouses of Asian football, even though they failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
"The slot available for the national team's training in Europe is May 28 to June 5, which is quite short. Moreover, there was resentment from some clubs in the domestic leagues. So we have opted to play a friendly game with a quality team instead," Somyot said in a general assembly meeting.
"China and India both expressed interest in playing Thailand, but we can only arrange one match in a short time,” he said.
What's next?
Thailand are scheduled to play China on June 2, just a few days before the FIFA World Cup kicks-off in Russia. Meanwhile, India’s aim would be to prepare them for the upcoming 2019 AFC Asian Cup, which is by far the biggest tournament they will be a part of in recent times.
Author's take
Indian football is on a high, and they have shown a steep rise in the FIFA rankings as well. India's English head coach Stephen Constantine has done a remarkable job with the team so far, but the AFC Asian Cup will be a big challenge for the ‘Blue Tigers’. Hopefully, he will steer India to a successful campaign.
