CAFA Cup: Think positive, says new coach Khalid Jamil ahead of opener

The onus is on a new-look batch of Blue Tigers to provide some silver lining for Indian football when they begin campaign against hosts Tajikistan in their first-ever CAFA Nations Cup 2025 appearance at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisor, Tajikistan, on Friday. The match will be streamed live on FanCode. 

A tournament being billed as a preparatory one ahead of India’s remaining AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in October, new coach Khalid Jamil has to contend without seven of his first choice footballers whom ISL champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant refused to release for national duty. As someone who has been there and done that with the football ecosystem of the country, the former Jamshedpur FC coach sounded an upbeat note: ‘’We had a good preparation for the CAFA Nations Cup. Every player worked hard before coming here. It is a pleasure for us to participate in this tournament.”

 India have been placed in Group B, where after facing the hosts, they will play Iran (1 September) and Afghanistan (4 September). Group A meanwhile consists of hosts Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, and Oman. The top teams from each group will play each other in the final while the two second-placed teams will face off in the third-place match, both to be played on 8 September.

India and Tajikistan have played each other five times in history - with the Blue Tigers’ only win coming in the AFC Challenge Cup 2008 final where India defeated the Persian Lions 4-1. That result was 18 years ago and Tajikistan (106th in the FIFA Rankings) are a different side now. Jamil is fully aware of the potential threat but is more intent on the Blue Tigers, now world No.133, playing their own game.

The India head coach stressed on the importance of spreading positivity in the team in view of the recent dismal run in Asian Cup qualifiers – not to speak of the negative vibes about Indian football back home with uncertainty prevailing over both the I-League and ISL. “We must think fresh, we must think positive. Yes, this is an away game against a good team but we have to prepare accordingly and think only of one thing – a positive result. All the players must take responsibility. I feel that we are ready to accept this challenge,’’ Jamil said.

Goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari said at the pre-match press conference: “We have trained hard over the last few weeks, and our camp in Bengaluru gave us an intense 10 days to get ready for the CAFA Nations Cup. I am sure everyone is excited to play this tournament and ready to give their best.”