It will be another journey on the road to redemption for the Indian football team as it takes on a higher-ranked Thailand in an international friendly on Wednesday, the match serving as preparation for India's crucial AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifier against Hong Kong next week.  

The Blue Tigers, ranked 127th, did not cover themselves with glory when they were held goalless by Bangladesh at home in the first of their group matches of the qualifiers in March. A win against Hong Kong at Kowloon City on 10 June is hence a must, but head coach Manolo Marquez wants to test their readiness in the friendly against the 99th ranked team in Pathum Thani.

Fresh from a week-long camp at the AIFF’s Centre of Excellence in Kolkata, India will be desperate to find its goalscoring boots, a sore point for which the boys have been suffering for over a year. This will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2019 when India won both clashes, a 4-1 rout at the AFC Asian Cup in Abu Dhabi followed by a 1-0 victory in Buriram, which handed the Blue Tigers the bronze at the King’s Cup later that year.

Altogether seven players from that 2019 Asian Cup squad are in Thailand for the friendly — Sunil Chhetri, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Ashique Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh Kumam — but Marquez is not willing to attach much importance to scorelines achieved six years back. ‘’Those games were a long time ago. It wasn’t last week or last month. I think both teams have changed players since then. I spoke with the players who played that game. 

‘’It’s practically impossible to compare the games. I expect a good game. We are here to win, and obviously if you ask me if we can repeat the score, that would be great,’’ said the Spaniard, under severe pressure ever since taking over from Igor Stimac last year. Thailand, meanwhile, are using the friendly to gear up for their qualifier against Turkmenistan.

Winger Lallianzuala Chhangte, one of the players primed to take over the scoring role from Chhetri, said at the press conference: ‘’We’ve been working really hard for these two matches. We take this friendly game seriously and want to win it as well. Everyone is focused and motivated. The coaching staff and everyone in the team are behind us, helping us in every way they can.

‘’Thailand, we know, are a good team offensively and defensively. We came here with a clear plan. Our focus is on ourselves and hopefully, we can execute what we've been working on. If we win this game, it will boost our confidence for the Hong Kong match,’’ he said.

Catch the match

International friendly: Thailand vs India

Kick-off: 6.00 pm IST

Live streaming on Fan Code