India's stunning 4-1 win against Thailand in their first 2019 AFC Asian Cup match has led former Indian striker IM Vijayan to believe that the Blue Tigers can repeat their success against hosts UAE.
Sunil Chhetri and co. overcame odds to hammer Thailand in their Group A opener and will now take on UAE at the Zayed Sports City on Thursday.
Former India striker IM Vijayan is in Abu Dhabi for India's Asian Cup fixtures as the All India Football Federation's (AIFF) National Observer for football.
"India's performance against Thailand was wonderful to watch. The first half was good and the second half was even better. It was one of their best performances (in recent years)," he spoke to Goal.
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"UAE are a very good team. They are playing in their home ground. But we are playing well. We can expect a win for sure, based on what we have seen."
The U-15 team of India landed in UAE for an exposure tour and played their first game on Tuesday. They held UAE U-15 3-3 and put in a brilliant shift.
Vijayan, who had attended the match, said, "The U-15 team played today against UAE U-15 and we were leading 3-1. They had only arrived a few hours before the game. And still, we conceded only in the last few minutes. We were down to 10 men after the goalie got a red card."
"The senior team's game against UAE will be a very good game to watch. India will have to put up a real fight. I don't expect changes in the starting lineup because the boys are playing really well," he signed off.
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