Led by charismatic striker Sunil Chhetri, India will look to start their campaign on a grand note by registering a big win against low-ranked Cambodia in their quest to make it to the AFC (Confederation of Asian Football) Asian Cup finals for the fifth time here on Wednesday. Chhetri is looking to score his 80th goal in his 126th match. Cristiano Ronaldo (117 goals in 188 matches) and Lionel Messi (86 goals in 162 matches) have also scored several goals. None can be compared to these two but Chhetri will have a special opportunity to overtake Messi in this tournament.
The Indian team is currently ranked 106th in the world rankings, while Cambodia has also dropped 65 places to 171st. Apart from these two teams in Group D, Afghan (150) and Hong Kong (147) are included. In such a situation, Chhetri will have opportunities to score goals. Chhetri is at the end of his career and qualifying for the Asian Cup is going to be a special one for the 37-year-old captain. Due to the withdrawal of China, the next Asian Cup is going to be held in late 2023 or 2024 and in such a situation, Chhetri can be called the 'last fort' of his illustrious career.
Lost in three friendly matches: India's performance was not favorable before the qualifying matches of this continental competition. He has had to face defeat in all the three international friendly matches he has played before. Not only this, in the meantime, they lost 1-2 to Indian Super League team ATK Mohun Bagan while they beat the I-League All Stars team 2-1 but Santosh Trophy runners-up Bengal beat them 1-1. The draw has been stopped.
Carlsen took the lead by defeating Mamedyarov in Norway Chess
