Qualifying for AFC Cup is very crucial, we will take it one game at a time: India defender Pritam Kotal

Indian defender Pritam Kotal has said qualifying for AFC Cup is very crucial and they will take it one game at a time in the upcoming qualifiers. India is in Group D of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, with teams like Hong Kong, Afghanistan, and Cambodia.

All of the matches will take place at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata and India will have crowd support. Thus, the home side will favorite in their group and they will aim to bring their best to the pitch.

India recently suffered a 0-2 loss against Jordan in a Friendly contest and they will look to bounce back stronger.

India has shown improvements in the recent past and they will look to come up with a collective effort.

“It’s a big advantage for us to play in front of our fans. Especially because we have not been able to play in front of our own fans for a long time due to Covid-19. So, I would like to encourage all the fans to come ahead and support us in these three games. We will try to give our best – together we can,” said Kotal during an interview to the AIFF Media team.

“It’s absolutely crucial for us as a nation to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup, and all of us in the team are completely focused on that. We will try our best and hopefully will make it to the tournament properly. We need to take it match by match, and we must do well in all the three games ahead of us,” the defender further added.

On the other hand, Subhashish Bose believes it will be great to play in front of the home crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

“Kolkata is the Mecca of Indian Football. The fans here are great. So many clubs have dedicated fans here, and the great thing is that they all come together to cheer for India when we play as a nation in this city. I hope there is a lot of noise from the stands. That will boost all of us. From our end, we need to pay them back with a qualification for the AFC Asian Cup,” Bose told the AIFF Media team in an interview.

“It was an amazing feeling in the UAE. So many Indian fans had come to the ground there, it was great. We tried our best back then, but we could not make it to the knockout rounds. Of course, we would love to go one better in the next edition — but first, we need to qualify – and for that, we need to do well in these three upcoming matches,” Subhasish said.

India will begin their campaign against Cambodia on Wednesday.