King’s Cup: Chhetri-less India begin overseas tour
India will be without their leader Sunil Chhetri as they play against Iraq in the King’s Cup. Chhetri is taking a break to be with his wife and new son. Iraq is ranked higher than India and is expected to do well in the tournament. The winners of the round-robin matches will go on to play in the final. Thailand will also play against Lebanon. The two teams that did not win will compete for the third-place medal before the final game on Sunday. It is a challenging task for Stimac’s players because India has never defeated Iraq in six matches (four losses and two draws). The last time India played against Iraq, they lost with a score of 0-2 in a friendly match in Sharjah before the 2011 Asian Cup. Stimac said he hopes that India will give their best effort on the field to achieve something positive against a tough team like Iraq, who are the champions of the Arabian Gulf Cup. They have a good chance of winning the Asian Cup because they have defeated Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. It’ll be tough for us, but I hope our boys have fun playing the game.
