Afghanistan, India look to stay in touch in Group E

With the group increasingly resembling a two-horse race, both Afghanistan and India will aim to pull-off Matchday Six shocks when they face the respective heavyweights of Asian Qualifiers Group E on Tuesday.

Afghanistan will meet Qatar in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, while India face a trip to Oman in the final Matchday before the end of 2019.

Afghanistan return for their second trip to Dushanbe’s Republican Central Stadium in five days after a last-minute goal from Seiminlen Doungel helped India salvage a 1-1 draw last Thursday.

Doungel’s equaliser was a bitter pill to swallow for Afghanistan, who would have been within three points of second-placed Oman coming into Tuesday’s fixtures had they managed to hold on.

As it stands, Anoush Dastgir’s side are now five points behind Oman and six behind Qatar, giving them almost no margin for error coming into the final four matches of this round of the qualification race.

Under those circumstances, reigning Asian champions Qatar are far from the ideal next opponent, but Afghanistan will have little option but to try to nullify the stars who swept to AFC Asian Cup glory in Abu Dhabi nine months ago.

Akram Afif – one of the chief architects of that success – comes into the fixture fresh from being nominated for AFC Men’s Player of the Year, while Al Duhail forward Almoez Ali has already bagged four Asian Qualifiers goals in this campaign.

While India inflicted a late blow on Afghanistan last time out, it was they who suffered a similar fate when they met Oman on Matchday One, with Erwin Koeman’s side snatching a 2-1 win having trailed with eight minutes remaining in Guwahati.

That win proved to be the start of a strong campaign for Oman, who have since breezed to two big wins in Muscat and pushed Qatar all the way in a 2-1 defeat in Doha.

Koeman’s brother Ronald has had a successful international career by leading their native Netherlands to UEFA Euro 2020 qualification, and the elder sibling of the family could be on the way to going one better by leading Oman to a maiden FIFA World Cup.

Oman’s form on home soil has certainly been impressive, racking up seven goals in two wins, including four in the second half against Bangladesh on Thursday, while India have now gone more than two years since emerging victorious as the away team.

As ever, they will rely on the goals of the talismanic Sunil Chhetri, who has called on his teammates to remain disciplined in a match he has designated as a ‘must not lose’.

Meanwhile, South Korea, who will play Brazil in a high-profile friendly on Tuesday, will also be keeping an eye on how Matchday Six in Group G of the Asian Qualifiers ends.

So tight is the race to win the group that South Korea could find themselves dropping to third in the standings after the final whistle is blown for the Lebanon-North Korea and Turkmenistan-Sri Lanka ties.

Turkmenistan revived their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 hopes with a 3-1 win over North Korea on Thursday and the Central Asians, should they defeat Sri Lanka and the Lebanon-North Korea tie ends in a draw, could find themselves heading into 2020 as the Group H leaders.

Having suffered two consecutive defeats after opening their campaign with a 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in September, Turkmenistan would have been happy to have taken even one point against a North Korea side who held South Korea to a goalless draw last time out.

Instead, Ante Mise’s side produced their best performance of the Asian Qualifiers as they dictated play from the start and fully deserved their victory.

They will be confident of another three points against a Sri Lanka side who are still seeking their first point after four matches.

Lebanon will believe top spot in Group H is theirs for the taking when they face DPR Korea at the Sports City Stadium in Beirut.

Liviu Ciobotariu’s side produced a steely performance to hold South Korea 0-0 and will be confident of taking all three points against a North Korea side reeling from their defeat to Turkmenistan.