Coach of the Indian football team Stephen Constantine feels that the upcoming tri-series against Mauritius and St Kitts will come in handy ahead of its crucial AFC Asian Cup Qualifying match against Macau on September 5.
“The two matches would immensely benefit our quest to maintain an all-win record in the Asian Cup Qualifiers,” said Constantine. India will play the tri-series between August 19 and 24 in Mumbai.
India are on top of AFC Asian Cup qualifying Group A at the moment, owing to their back-to-back wins against Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic.
“Qualification to the 2019 Asian Cup stays the priority. It will be nice to work with the boys again. They will be coming after a long break. And we need to work hard for them to attain the fitness levels which are required for an International match,” said Constantine. “The boys need to play matches to understand each other better.”
India are currently placed 97th in the FIFA rankings after 13 victories in the last 15 matches. The team has actually moved up 76 places since March 2015.