Indian friendlies in October

Just a short one to keep you updated. Many have been asking me if I have heard anything about upcoming friendlies of the Indian national team. Yes I have, but a lot of things I have heard are rumours, so I won't be passing them on.

The plans at the moment are to play the international friendlies which will be held in the first half of October at the Stadium in the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune. The only confirmed game is the match against Vietnam on October 8. Another match is supposed to be played on October 12/13 against a West Asian side. Originally plans were to play Yemen, but then later on defending AFC Asian Cup champions Iraq have been named as a potential opponent. But the opponent for this game is still not confirmed.

Now today I checked the FIFA.com website which shows in its fixtures list that India would host Hongkong for an international friendly on October 4 in Pune. But be careful with those fixtures then the FIFA.com website had mentioned earlier that India would face North Korea and Turkmenistan twice but those matches never happened. So lets wait for an official confirmation from the AIFF about the upcoming matches.

What I can confirm is that after the match on October 12/13 the players will be getting off for two/three weeks before regrouping again in early-November for the final camp and preparations ahead of the AFC Asian Cup in January 2011.