India to play Namibia on Sep 15

New Delhi: The Indian national football team will play Namibia in an international friendly on September 15 at the Ambedkar Stadium here.

Ranked 115 in the FIFA rankings, Namibia will be India’s second international assignment since last year’s Nehru Cup, after the friendly against Thailand. National coach Bob Houghton had earlier opposed the idea of playing against African nations like Namibia and Gambia as India have been grouped with Australia, South Korea and Bahrain in the 2011 Asian Cup, all non-African countries. The Briton was more in favour of playing against South Asian countries and local sides in West Asian nations but his proposal had been promptly rejected by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), who claimed that the friendlies were arranged after consultation with Houghton.For the Indians though, playing against an unknown opponent with a completely different style of play, would be a difficult test. PTI