Indian national team arrived in Doha on 30 December, 2023, where they were greeted by a large expatriate community at the Hamad International Airport.
India is set to participate in the Asian Cup for the fifth time. Commencing with a Group B match against Australia on January 13, the Indian team will play at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan. Their second match is scheduled against Uzbekistan also at the same stadium on January 18.
The team will then move to the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor to take on Syria on January 23.
Sahal Abdul Samad has been selected, whereas Jeakson Singh and Glan Martins have missed out due to fitness concerns. Jeakson, a top defensive midfielder, had been doubtful due to a shoulder injury sustained in November, while Mohun Bagan's Martins had recently suffered an injury. Despite featuring among the 50 probables, neither player was able to make the final cut.
Team India’s head coach Igor Stimac said,"All these boys are very similar in terms of football quality. We are a team, a family. But no matter the talent, if there is no character, nothing can be achieved".
"The things we are looking to work on are defensive compactness, offensive transitions, and the set pieces, mostly. It will be very important to work on man-marking inside the box because I was not happy with that part of our game. In the last few games, we started leaking some unnecessary goals inside the box."
"All three of our opponents are very good technically, physically stronger with great speed.So, we are not going to have much difference in approach to all these three games, I can tell you that. We need to check the fitness level of our players at present and see how much we can develop in the next two weeks," he added.
