Three years after Asian Cup heartbreak, India resume rivalry against Bahrain in international friendly

Asian Cup knock-out berth with an injury time win, India resume their rivalry against the gulf nation in an international football friendly on Tuesday. India were on the verge of booking a knock-out round berth in the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE before Bahrain scored from a penalty in stoppage time. That match broke Indian hearts and turned out to be the last one for English coach Stephen Constantine.

Now, as part of their preparations for yet another Asian Cup berth which will be decided in the final round qualifiers in June in Kolkata, 104th-ranked India face 89th-ranked Bahrain in the first of the two international friendly matches here. India play against Belarus on Saturday in the same venue. These two matches will be the first real big tests in nine months after India lost to Qatar 0-1 in June last year.

All of India's matches after that till now have been against South Asian sides. In fact, after Croatian Igor Stimac took over from Constantine, India have played 21 matches till now, winning six, including three against South Asian sides. "The two matches (against Bahrain and Belarus) will show where our team is at the moment.

We have chosen the opponents very carefully, they are better-ranked sides though I said rankings do not matter," Stimac said. The head coach is looking forward to test various combinations during the two international friendly matches here to prepare for different scenarios during the Asian Cup qualifiers in June. The head coach said he will give opportunities to the new players in the two matches but cautioned against jumping guns by declaring ISL performers as quality players at international stage.