India vs Maldives marks the return of Sunil Chhetri to the national team fold as he comes out of a 9-odd-month retirement. And you can follow it with us right here, on our India vs Maldives Live blog:
Stellar form in the ISL — where his 12 goals make him the top scoring Indian by a country mile, and the second highest scorer overall — appears to have convinced Manolo Marquez to persuade the former captain out of retirement, and Chhetri himself to come out of it. His appearance will be the star turn for an Indian side struggling for goals under new head coach Marquez, albeit they have shown some promise in his four games in charge.
Whether he starts today or not would be up for debate, but Marquez promised in his pre-match press conference that Chhetri would get a run out either from the start or off the bench. He’s also suggested that there would be some changes to his preferred starting XI, considering that his, and India’s, main target should be the AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh on April 25 (Tuesday).
Marquez said, «It’s a friendly game to prepare for the Asian Cup qualifier. Obviously, we want to win. We knew that the target during the previous FIFA windows was to arrive in the best possible condition for the first competitive match against Bangladesh next Tuesday. I don’t think we will play with the same team against Bangladesh that will play tomorrow. Obviously, you can’t change all 11. Some will repeat on Tuesday. I’m confident in all my players. It has to be a good game and a good preparation for Bangladesh.»
Also read: India vs Maldives — All eyes on Sunil Chhetri as Manolo Marquez hints at rotation
Maldives come into the game with an AFC Asian Cup qualifier of their own in the back of their mind — and the logistical challenges of travelling from Shillong back to Maldives and then onto the Philippines — but if Ali Fasir starts up top for the visitors, they will give India’s defence a proper work out.
Meanwhile, Marquez will be keen to get a win with the national team under his belt, while Chhetri will be eager to remind everyone of what they have been missing without him. Those two factors alone make this an unmissable match.
