Hero tri-nation international friendly football tournament from today

Imphal: For the first time, people of Manipur will be witnessing the Indian national football team playing with Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan teams in the Hero tri-nation international friendly football tournament on Manipur soil from Wednesday onwards.

The first international friendly match will be played between Indian and Myanmar at the newly renovated Khuman Lampak main stadium in Imphal at 6 pm tomorrow (Wednesday).

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the match against Myanmar soon after their arrival here this afternoon, Indian national football team’s head coach Igor Stimac accompanied by India team custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, said that playing in the capital of a state that has produced good footballers will be a joyous moment for the team.

“Playing in Manipur is more of a joy for us. After all, playing at home is important for the team” the head coach said. “We’ve 33 players today here with the team and seven of them are from Manipur.”

On playing such matches in a state like Manipur, the head coach said such matches will help popularise football and other infrastructure development. “I’m also honoured to be here in a state where a lot of footballers have come up”, he said.

 “I appreciate the football federation specially the state in helping and organising such matches and I hope that the football infrastructure will be better,” he said.

According to records, India, who are placed 106th on the FIFA Rankings, have played 24 matches against Myanmar (159 on FIFA Rankings). Out of these, India won nine matches, while Myanmar won 11; four of these encounters have ended in a draw.

The second match of the international friendly football tourney will be played between Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan at the same venue at 6 pm of March 25, while the third and final match will be between India and Kyrgyzstan at 6 pm of March 28.