The Indian men's national team will play against Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in two friendlies in Dubai next month (March 25 and 29, respectively), the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Tuesday.
India last played an international game in November 2019, in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers against Afghanistan (in Tajikistan) and Oman (in Muscat). India are currently on 3 points from 5 matches, with two home matches against Asian Champions Qatar and Afghanistan, and an away game against Bangladesh yet to be played.
As part of the preparation for the two matches against Oman and UAE in March, the team will assemble in a preparatory camp from March 15 onwards. The camp will also be held in Dubai under coach Igor Stimac to allow the players to acclimatise faster.
The two Friendlies come on the back of the U-16 national team having travelled to UAE in February 2021, and the women's national team touring Turkey, where they played matches against Serbia, Russia and Ukraine.