Former Indian footballer Bhaichung Bhutia expressed hope that this year will be a good year for Indian football and said the team needs a consistent striker to replace retired legend and former captain Sunil Chhetri. Speaking to ANI in Siliguri, Bhutia said: “After a disastrous 2024, I hope 2025 will be a good year for the team. We have the Asia Cup qualifier, which I think we can qualify for. We have a few coming up good matches, some friendly matches. The team looks good too.” Talking about replacing Chhetri, Bhutia said the team needs someone who can score goals as consistently as the 40-year-old icon.
“We have some good players coming through. Hopefully this year we can get our next Sunil Chhetri. There is a hole in the team and it is still being looked for. There are not many strikers who score consistently. But there are not many strikers who are scoring consistently. There are some good players like Liston Colaco and Manvir Singh (of Mohun Bagan Super Giant) who are playing well,” he added.
Bhutia said that the team has to start winning as they did not get even a single win last year and they have to improve their ranking for the sake of qualification for future competitions and the team's confidence.
“The team needs more time in terms of training and preparation for the Asia Cup. The coach is new (Manolo Marquez). Although he knows most of the players of ISL (Indian Super League), knowing more players will help him in coordination.” he added.
India were drawn against Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangladesh in Group C of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 Qualifiers Final Round. The draw, which saw 24 teams divided into six groups of four, took place on December 9, 2024 at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Only the six group winners will qualify and join the 18 teams that have already secured their tickets for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 after the second qualifying round. The qualifying round will be contested over six matchdays between March 25, 2025 and March 31, 2026 in a home-and-away format. India, who are looking to qualify for three consecutive Asian Cups for the first time in their history, will start their campaign at home against Bangladesh.
India has faced all three opponents in the recent past. The Blue Tigers last faced Bangladesh in the 2021 SAFF Championship, Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Kolkata in June 2022, and Singapore in the Hung Thinh Friendly Tournament in Vietnam in September 2022.
Currently, India is ranked 126th in the FIFA Men's Football Team Rankings.
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