Indian men's national Football team reaches Thailand for friendly match
versus Hong Kong on June 10.
After completing the Kolkata leg of their training camp, the Indian team landed in Thailand on Thursday.
This is the third time the Indian senior men's team have visited the Land of Smiles in the past six years. India previously participated in the 2019 and 2023 King's Cup, winning the bronze medal
in the former after beating Thailand 1-0, which was the last meeting between these two sides.
While the King's Cups were held in Buriram and Chiang Mai, respectively, the upcoming friendly will take place at the Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani, a venue the Blue Tigers have never played in before. However, the Blue Colts have — as recently as 2023 in the AFC U17 Asian Cup. India drew 1-1 with Vietnam and lost 0-1 against Uzbekistan at the Thammasat Stadium.
Midfielder Brandon Fernandes, who made his India debut at the 2019 King's Cup in Buriram against Curaçao, is up for the challenge in Pathum Thani. He also spent the last pre-season with his club Mumbai City FC in Thailand, so it's safe to say, he is quite familiar with the country, its weather, and playing conditions.
"It's always different when you play away from home. We are familiar with Thailand because we played the King's Cup here. This one's going to be a different game — an international friendly.
There will be more fans supporting the home team, and it's a challenge for us. We have to be
ready for it and go there with a mindset to win the game," the 30-year-old said.
Team India's hotel is situated in the heart of Pathum Thani, approximately 50 kilometres north of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. Pathum Thani, one of Thailand's 76 provinces and part of the Bangkok metropolitan area, is located on the banks of the Chao Phraya River.
The Thammasat Stadium, part of the Thammasat University campus, was built for the 1998 Asian Games. The Indian women's team also played two matches in the group stage of that Asiad.
Right now, the Blue Tigers' primary aim is to qualify for the Asian Cup in 2027, and Fernandes feels that the preparations for the Hong Kong game are on the right track.
"Everybody is looking fit after the camp in Kolkata. We also had a couple of practice games. We are in much better shape as we head into the Thailand leg of the camp. We'll have a few more training sessions here, and we'll be ready for the game.
"Thailand will be a perfect challenge for us in order to prepare for the Hong Kong game. We have to put our best foot forward and look for a positive result. Everybody has put in the work, those hard yards, and yes — with the way we train and are putting in the shifts, I think we will get a good result," Fernandes said.
UNI BM
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
3 minutes ago
- Mint
‘Virat, the nation needs you!' - Shashi Tharoor urges Kohli to rethink Test retirement amid England vs India series
Shashi Tharoor has urged Virat Kohli to rethink his Test retirement after the senior Congress leader shared that he had been missing the former captain 'never as much as' in the ongoing fifth Test against England. Kohli, who had a tough run in Australia last year, took a sudden Test retirement just before the England series along with Rohit Sharma. In the absence of Kohli, the young Indian team in transition performed brilliantly in England in all the five matches, but Tharoor felt Kohli's grit, intensity and his presence in the field might had led to a different outcome. The fifth Test is poised to end in a thriller. 'I've been missing @imVkohli a few times during this series, but never as much as in this Test match. His grit and intensity, his inspirational presence in the field, not to mention his abundant batting skills, might have led to a different outcome. Is it too late to call him out of retirement? Virat, the nation needs you!' wrote Tharoor on X. Kohli bid adieu to the longest format of the game with 9230 runs from 123 matches. Meanwhile, bad light interrupted play during the final session of the fourth day in the fifth Test on Sunday. England were 339/6 at the time interruption, needing 35 runs to win the final Test and the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India, meanwhile, needed just three wickets to win the Test and square the series 2-2 as Chris Woakes has already been ruled out of the match due to injury. However Woakes was seen dressed up with his hand in sling. Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton were batting at 2 and 0 respectively when the umpires checked the light meter and decided the halt the proceedings.
Hindustan Times
3 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
How India's junior squash ended a 13-year world medal wait
Mumbai: Soon after the Indian men's team lost to Korea in the quarter-finals of the 2024 World Squash Junior Championships to stumble one step short of a medal, Harinder Pal Sandhu, coach of the team for the first time, set his mind on the next edition. That not only entailed hunting for the next crop of young probables but also making a quiet promise. The Indian junior men's team won bronze at the recent world junior championships in Cairo (World Junior Squash Championships) 'To never have that feeling again, if ever the opportunity came up again,' said Harinder. It did, against the same team at the same stage. This time in Cairo, up against a more fancied, third seeded Asian champion Korea, the Indians would script a 2-1 upset and secure a medal. Although they lost to USA in the semi-finals, the bronze by the boys added to 17-year-old Anahat Singh's individual bronze from the recent world juniors. The team medal was equally significant, if not more, given that the last time an Indian men's team medalled at the prestigious event was in 2012 (bronze). Sandhesh PR, Yusha Nafees, Arihant KS and Aryaveer Dewan ended a more than decade-long wait, and showed promise in the men's game to go with Anahat's potential among the women in a sport that will make its Olympic debut at Los Angeles in 2028. Of the four medallists, only Arihant was part of the previous edition in Houston. The other first-timers were zeroed in by Harinder, a former top-50 pro whose career was curtailed by a severe back injury in 2018. The 36-year-old coach's 'eyes were locked on' the national and Asian circuit over the last year. 'I would study their games in every tournament, or whenever they came to play in Chennai. And then I would speak to each one of them every day,' Harinder said. Aryaveer, 16, won the U-17 individual gold at the Asian Junior Championships in July. He is also a 2023 U-15 US Open winner. Arihant, 18, was the India No.1 in the U-15 age group. He beat Korea's Lee Jong-hyeok in the decider, after the tie was locked 1-1. Yusha, 17, was India No.1 in the U-17 category. He gave India the 1-0 lead. Sandesh won the U-19 title at the WSC Classic Open in January. Each has different personalities and plays a different game, said Harinder. Sandesh, the No.1 player in the team, was down on confidence after a below-par individual outing. He asked Harinder to drop him down in the team order. The coach refused. Instead, he engaged the teen in plenty of talk that was at times polite and angry yet always honest. For Arihant and Sandesh, this was their last junior cycle as they prepare to step up into the demanding pro world. 'Both showed they're ready to play on the pro circuit. The game that they played over the last week was very professional, and different to what the juniors play. I hope they will reach top 100 and 50 soon,' said Harinder. 'As for Yusha and Aryaveer, they have the chance to be in the team next year too, provided they keep their level up. This was a good experience for them, and now they know how much they need to work harder if they have to change the colour of the medal.' Harinder, a multiple Asian Games medallist, singled out mindset as the biggest challenge in translating junior promise at the pro level, where many talented youngsters have faltered. In these four though he sees potential to take forward the men's game in the country. As for his coaching career, also in its young days, the team bronze is a tick but not bold enough. 'I'm thankful that SRFI (squash federation) and SAI gave me another opportunity to get this medal,' he said. 'But the satisfaction will come when I can get an Indian or Indians in the final two.'
Hindustan Times
33 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
'Virat, the nation needs you:' Shashi Tharoor's plea to Kohli as India risk losing Anderson-Tendulkar trophy to England
Shashi Tharoor is echoing the thoughts of a million Indian cricket fans right now. As India stare at another series defeat in England – their third since 2007 – the Congress MP has urged Virat Kohli to come out of retirement. Tharoor confessed that he has missed Kohli's presence throughout the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, but more so in the Oval Test, seeing India fail to break what could turn out to be a match-winning partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook. Shashi Tharoor, right, has a request for Virat Kohli(AFP Images) England were reduced to 106/3, with 268 more to get, when Root and Brook stitched together a century partnership, with both batters completing their respective centuries. Tharoor made a heartfelt plea, perhaps to the BCCI, asking whether there's still a possibility to make Kohli change his mind. Also Read: Follow India vs England 5th Test Day 4 "I've been missing Virat Kohli a few times during this series, but never as much as in this Test match. His grit and intensity, his inspirational presence in the field, not to mention his abundant batting skills, might have led to a different outcome. Is it too late to call him out of retirement? Virat, the nation needs you," Tharoor tweeted. Virat Kohli's Test retirement Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 12, just days after reports emerged that he had made up his mind to bid adieu to the format he so dearly loved. While Kohli has yet to offer a proper explanation, barring his Instagram post that broke a gazillion hearts, he continues to hold Test cricket in the highest regard. After RCB won the IPL, he placed Test cricket five levels above and just last month, said, "you know it's time when you have to dye your beard every four days." Unlike Rohit Sharma, who also announced his retirement from the format five days before Virat, and who made an appearance at The Oval on Saturday, Kohli has stayed away from this series. Besides his appearance at Wimbledon and then an event hosted by Yuvraj Singh in London, Kohli has stayed away from the public eye. Only time will tell if Kohli listens to what Tharoor has to say, but given the 36-year-old's track record, his decision will remain unchanged.
