Indian footballer Nikhil Poojary is excited to play his maiden Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, saying that the tournament is like a "mini World Cup" for him. In the tournament, India have been drawn in Group B of the AFC Asian Cup, where they will face the likes of Australia (January 13), Uzbekistan (January 18), and Syria (January 23), as per an All India Football Federation (AIFF). While the group looks relatively tough, Poojary and the boys are not deterred.
"It is going to be special, especially for those like me, who will make their Asian Cup debuts here. It's like a mini World Cup for us. All the top teams and players from Asia will be here, so it will be a good opportunity for us to test our levels," said Nikhil as quoted by an AIFF press release. It is a tough job to find a spot in the Indian Football Team. Perhaps nobody has had it tougher in recent times than Poojary, whose career has been mired by injuries and omissions, just when things looked like they were beginning to get better.
While an ACL injury in 2017 right after his first call-up to the National Team slowed his progress, eventually leading to him not being on the flight to UAE for the AFC Asian Cup 2019, a call-up to the national squad later that year would end unsatisfactorily in Qatar, where he would be substituted off in India's famous stalemate against the hosts in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifier.
