Buoyed by the triumph in the Intercontinental Cup, the Indian football team will enter the SAFF Championship here as a confident unit and look to extend their dominance in the tournament.

India will face Pakistan in their opening outing at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday, and the match is all set to be played as per schedule after the players from the neighbouring country received their India visa on Monday night.

India coach Igor Stimac on Tuesday warned his side against getting tricked by the relatively lower Fifa rankings of other teams in Group A, and urged the Blue Tigers not to lose their intensity.

India have been drawn with Pakistan, Nepal and Kuwait in Group A in the tournament. India will open their campaign against Pakistan on Wednesday here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

“Forget about the Fifa rankings! All the teams in our group and in general in the tournament are very special. All four teams are quite efficient and can produce different kinds of football. The crowd will love it as there will be a lot of goals. We have a very serious group and some tough opponents,” said Stimac during the pre-match press conference.

Stimac did not deny the fact that India’s confidence is high after winning the Intercontinental Cup on Sunday, beating Lebanon 2-0.

“The mood in the camp is bright. We can be happy. As the coaching staff, we only can show the team how to win the match and once they enter the field, it is entirely up to the players how to do it,” he said.

Despite the stirring victory in the Intercontinental Cup, Stimac said India cannot take Pakistan lightly as they could be a dangerous opponent.

“They could be the surprise package of the tournament. They have a very good team, and it does not matter that they have not got the results going their way recently.

“We know the strong and weak points of the teams and we need to work on them,” he said.

Stimac said the team will have to get used to the conditions in Bengaluru very soon as the experience in Odisha was vastly different.

“We are coming here from (Odisha) temperature soaring over 40 degrees, 48 degrees at times. We need to get used to the cooler conditions in Bengaluru, lovely for football, and need to train on the artificial surface with slow movements,” he added.

The Intercontinental Cup triumph was India’s first victory over Lebanon in 46 years. Captain Sunil Chhetri got his name on the score sheet and India would hope for him to continue in the same vein in the Saff meet.

Placed low in the pecking order, Pakistan might not offer India a massive challenge but the Blue Tigers will be eager to start their campaign on a rousing note, and give other aspirants a strong message.

Eight-time champions India are drawn in Group A alongside Nepal, Kuwait and Pakistan. The other competing teams are Lebanon, the Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh who have been drafted into Group B.

For Chhetri, a personal milestone beckons. He will look to surpass Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia, who has 89 goals against his name, as the second highest-scoring Asian footballer. Chhetri has 87 goals for India from 137 matches.

India are the defending champions, having won the tournament in 2021. In total, they have won eight times.

PTI