AFC Asian Cup 2024: 'India Fans Expected To Come In Numbers in Qatar,' Says Subhasish Bose

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The Indian football team is gearing up for its first match of the AFC Asian Cup 2024 in Al Rayyan, Qatar in a week and the national team's experienced defender Subhasish Bose is expecting a strong Indian crowd presence at the venue.

The Ahmad Ali Bin Stadium has a capacity of 45,032 and left-back Subhasish Bose, who started all three group games in the 2019 edition of the AFC Asian Cup, said he had murmurs of Indian fans coming to the venue in numbers as they always do whenever India play in any of the Gulf nations with strong Indian diaspora.

"No matter where we go abroad, we always have healthy support from the stands, especially in the Middle East," Subhasish Bose told aiff.com "We were welcomed so warmly at the airport, hundreds of Indians had come to greet us. And now we are hearing that a lot of the Indian fans will be coming to our matches, which will really boost us. You always get an extra chip on your shoulder when you get support from the galleries."

The 28-year-old left-back, who will fight for a spot in the line-up with Akash Mishra, saw the ups and downs of the AFC Asian Cup in the UAE in 2019, when India made group exit despite winning the opening game 4-1 against Thailand. It all went down to India needing a draw in the last game against Bahrain but the side conceded a late penalty before losing the game.

Subhasish Bose, however, said that 2019's bad memories are behind them and it's the experience he wants to take to the AFC Asian Cup 2024 and share with at least 17 of his teammates are playing in the prestigious competition for the first time.

"We had started well in 2019 against Thailand but then lost the next two matches, which eventually knocked us out. We fought, we gave it our all right until the bitter end," Bose said to the-aiff.com.

"We were devastated after in 2019, but as they say, for any sportsperson, it's important to have the memory of a goldfish in such circumstances. Every setback is an opportunity to learn, and those of us here today have experienced that, and are helping the younger lot with that knowledge.

"The good thing is that most of them have already played so many matches for the National Team before the Asian Cup, I think that this will turn out to be a very good opportunity for them to prove their mettle against the very best of Asia."

In the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2024, India are in Group B and will face World No. 25 Australia on January 13, followed by Uzbekistan on January 18 and Syria on January 23. India are currently undergoing a training camp in Doha and with head coach Igor Stimac at the helm, the sessions are high on intensity as the Croatian prefers leaving it all on the field.

"The Asian Cup is the biggest tournament for us, so we are all stoked to be here. We've had a few training sessions here in Doha, and I can say that everyone is putting in their full effort, and it's going to be the same in the matches as well," he said. "We will give it our best shot, no matter who the opponents, or what the outcome."