Sahal Abdul Samad eyes piece of history with India at AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers

As the national team begins their third round of qualification for the continental showpiece against Cambodia on Wednesday, 25-year-old Sahal wants to do for football what fellow Keralites HS Prannoy and Arjun MR did for badminton when they helped India win the prestigious Thomas Cup last month. “To watch that Thomas Cup win was an inspirational moment for me as an Indian. We are really happy for them,” Sahal said.

“We also want to do something like that for the country and I hope we can do that during this Asian Cup campaign,” he added. The UAE-born winger had little time to rest after an impressive campaign for Ivan Vukomanovic’s Blasters in the Indian Super League as he linked up with Igor Stimac and his international teammates in Kolkata soon after the final before travelling to Qatar to play Jordan in a friendly. “The preparations have gone really well.

We have been together for more than a month. We all are ready but still learning and working hard,” said Sahal. After the opener against the Southeast Asians, the Blue Tigers will face Afghanistan on June 11 before taking on Hong Kong on June 14.

Only the group winner advance to the next round. “I am pretty sure nothing will be gifted to us. All three matches that we have will be very difficult.

But everyone in the team is really motivated about the challenge. I am sure we will give our 100 percent,” he said. Sahal and India will hope to make the home advantage count as all their matches are to be played at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium.

“We have been playing without fans for 2-3 years now. We know how important they are for the team. I know they will come to the stadium in numbers like they always do, especially here in Kolkata where they are really into football,”