India under Stephen Constantine has come a long way, and they appear to have grown in height too.

There was no dearth of activity in the Indian team with Stephen Constantine’s wards ramping up their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2019, which will be a fair reflection of where the team stands at the moment and what the future holds.

They have been clubbed with hosts UAE, Thailand and Bahrain and should they clear the group stage, India will get an opportunity to take on the continent’s big guns such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Constantine has made it clear that his players will need to play the best football of their lives if they are to make an impression in the continental showpiece, scheduled to be held from January 5 to February 1.

India will take confidence from some impressive results in the recent past, the most prominent being the goal-less stalemate with China, coached by World Cup-winning Italian manager Marcello Lippi.

Qualifying was hugely impressive from the Blue Tigers, and India go in to the Asian Cup knowing they can upset the odds. The Indian national team had earlier participated in the AFC Asian Cup in 1964, 1984 and 2011 editions of the AFC Asian Cup.

Indian team’s participation in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 is a precursor to India’s goal to achieve a berth in the FIFA World Cup by 2026. The Asian dream needs to be achieved by 2026 as there will be 8 teams from Asia in the FIFA World Cup.

DW Kick off! has made about how the AFC Asian Cup 2019 can become a milestone on India’s rise to higher football fortunes.

In the video, DW Kick off! expert Kres Harrington travels to the South Western coastal state of Kerala to meet two Indian footballers, I. M. Vijayan, the first footballer to win India’s player of the year multiple times and charismatic national defender Sandesh Jhingan, to get their take on why India’s team hasn’t made bigger strides on the international stage and, having recently broken into FIFA’s top 100 rankings, what can we expect from India’s national team in the coming years. Will the AFC Asian Cup 2019 be a turning point in the nation’s football history?

Tags: AFC Asian Cup 2019, DW Kick off!, Football, Indian Football, Kres Harrington