India’s opening AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers match cancelled as Maldives withdraw

Dalian [China]: India’s opening encounter in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers, Group G, which was scheduled to be played on Wednesday, September 6, 2023, has been cancelled following The Maldives’s last-minute withdrawal from the tournament.

The meet has now been reduced to a three-team group featuring India, and UAE and hosts China PR, as per a press release from the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

India will now play their opening fixture of the tournament against China PR on September 9, 2023, in Dalian Suoyuwan Stadium at 5:05 PM IST.

Head Coach Clifford Miranda maintained that his team’s focus remained the same despite the change in schedule. “Nothing changes for us; we have to do the same things that we would have done with the Maldives. We still have to do our best and play to our maximum potential,” said Miranda.

Looking at the positive side of things, Coach Miranda was pleased with getting a couple of extra days of training in China but also recognised the drawback of not getting to play a game before facing the hosts.

He said, “The good part is that we get a few days of training together as a complete team. Also, the boys will get time to rest and recover, both physically and mentally, after an extremely long and tiring journey to China.”

“Playing against the Maldives would have provided us a good opportunity to find our rhythm before facing China and UAE. Let us face it, among the three, the Maldives were the least dangerous opponents and would have been a good starting point for the team to prepare for the other two.”

Looking forward, Miranda said the main objective remains the same with the Maldives’ withdrawal.

“The group probably gets a little tougher but we had to play China and UAE anyway. So our overall objective is still the same. We will give our best to try and qualify for the U23 Asian Cup,” the coach concluded.

The 2024 AFC U23 Asian Cup will be held in Qatar from April 15 to May 3 next year. It will feature a total of 16 teams.