Incredible but true! Indian footballers will play Copa America with Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. The Indian football team has been invited to play in the Copa America in June-July. Kushal Das, general secretary of the Indian Football Federation, confirmed the matter.
However, due to the complexity of the schedule, India may not play in this year's Copa America. If everything was fine, they could be seen in this hall. But that possibility has diminished due to the clash with the Asian region's schedule for the World Cup qualifiers. Kushal is giving the responsibility to Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Argentina and Colombia are the joint organizers of this year's Copa America. The competition will start on June 11 and will go on screen on July 10. But the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers will continue at the same time. As a result, Australia and Qatar withdrew from the event. As a result, the opportunity comes in front of India.
"Qatar and Australia were invited to the Copa America," Kushal told the Times of India. But the game is not possible for Australia. They talked to Conmebol and India. Conmebol was also excited about getting India. They were very interested in playing us".
But India is stuck in the selection list. The AFC has already postponed the postponed matches of the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers from March-April to June. However, India made an effort to bring those matches forward. But it was not possible because of Bangladesh and Afghanistan, said Kushal.
His comment, ‘Now we have complications with the schedule. Copa America will start in June and we were trying to see if it could be held before the qualifiers in March-April. But it did not succeed because of teams like Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
If that doesn't happen, it's still a way to get more involved in the next Copa America. It is a very tough competition. But that’s what a young team needs. I am hopeful that since the organizers have indicated that they are interested in India, we will be able to participate there in the future. '
If India had a chance instead of Australia, they would have played in Group A. The other teams in the group are Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay. Qatar were in Group B with current champions Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru.
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