New Delhi, July 8: India's U-23 football team will take on Singapore in an international friendly in the first of the two-match series in Singapore on Sunday (July 9). The second match is scheduled for July 12.

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These two matches have been organised by the All India Football Federation to help the team prepare for the AFC Under-23 Championships 2018 Qualifiers where India are clubbed with hosts Qatar, Turkmenistan and Syria in group C. India will play Syria in the opener at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on July 19.

National coach Stephen Constantine, who is also an Under-23 coach, said this trip would help the boys gather much "valuable experience ahead of the tougher test."

"Most of the boys haven't played any international match at this level. These two matches will help them gain much valuable match experience," he said.

"They have shown enough progress within such a short period and these real-time match experiences will help us tune in ahead of the Qualifiers", he added.

The coach informed that "the weather in Singapore is fine and all the boys are fit and raring to go."

IANS