India and Maldives will play out an international friendly at the Polo Ground in Shillong on Wednesday ahead of the start of their Asian Cup qualifying campaigns next week.
Both nations suffered swift elimination from World Cup qualifying, and the long road to the 2027 Asian Cup will begin for both after this friendly.
Match preview
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It is approaching 18 months since India enjoyed their last win on the international stage, stunning Kuwait 1-0 away from home in the first matchday of the second stage of World Cup qualifying.
India were heavy outsiders, and that has since shown, because they were eliminated, finishing bottom of that section, which also included Qatar and Afghanistan, while Kuwait progressed, and are still well in with a chance of reaching the finals next summer.
Taking just two points and scoring two goals from the remaining five qualifiers put paid to India’s hopes of a first ever World Cup, and they also went on to lose all three Asian Cup group matches without finding the net.
Manolo Marquez took charge following that disappointment, but he has been unable to lead India to victory in any of his four friendlies so far, being held to draws by Mauritius, Vietnam and Malaysia, while suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Syria.
The Spaniard will leave his role at Indian giants FC Goa at the end of the season to focus solely on the national side, and their quest to reach the Asian Cup, which begins against Bangladesh next week.
Maldives also get their campaign underway next week, facing the Philippines away from home, after a very sparse schedule over the past 18 months.
The visitors were knocked out of World Cup qualifying at the first hurdle, losing 3-2 on aggregate against Bangladesh in October 2023, and they have only played two friendlies since then, both against the same opponents.
Both were settled by the odd goal, with Maldives winning one and losing one, and new coach Ali Suzain will hope that a lack of action recently does not scupper their chances of a shock Asian Cup qualification.
Suzain is back for a second spell and remains the only Maldivian to hold this post on a permanent basis, hoping he can get 2025 off to a good start by improving upon their disappointing record against India.
Maldives may have beaten their upcoming opponents in the 2018 South Asian Championship final, but that is one of just two victories in 16 previous clashes, with the last head-to-head ending 3-1 in favour of India.
Team News
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India’s Sunil Chhetri, now 40, has come out of retirement to feature here, and will continue to have his eye on hitting the century mark for international goals, currently sitting on 94, with some favourable fixtures on the horizon too.
Chhetri will not play alongside influential attacker Lallianzuala Chhangte though, as he has pulled out of the squad with injury, along with Ashish Rai, who will also not join up with the squad.
Sahal Abdul Samad is a long-term absentee for India, and he joins defenders Jay Gupta and Anwar Ali in missing out on the squad due to injury.
Maldives will look towards 36-year-old Ali Fasir for inspiration, as he scored in both recent friendlies against Bangladesh, while also being the top scorer and most capped player in the squad.
Suzain called up nine uncapped players to his last squad, and after such a long time off from competitive action, there could be debuts for many this week.
India possible starting lineup:
A Singh; Bheke, Jhingan, Bose, N R Singh; Wangjam, Apuia, Fernandes; Yadwad, S Chhetri, Choudhary
Maldives possible starting lineup:
Shareef; Samooh, Sifaau, H Hassan, Shifaz; H Mohamed, Mahudhee, Nihan, Irufaan, N Hassan; Fasir
We say: India 2-0 Maldives
Neither nation brings much form into this fixture, but India are ranked 36 places higher in the world rankings, meaning they will expect to have too much for the visitors.
Maldives have only played twice in 18 months, and will need to get up to speed quickly ahead of the start of Asian Cup qualifying next week, and this fixture could be used solely for that.
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