Calcutta: High on confidence after their recent Nehru Cup triumph, India take on Singapore in a rare international football friendly on a Fifa date, which will also be the first away match under coach Wim Koevermans, Choa Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore, on Tuesday.
Having successfully begun his stint at the helm of affairs with a title-win in the Nehru Cup last month, Koevermans will want to continue to maintain the momentum and collect some valuable ranking points.
Being a match on a Fifa date, Koevermans has a full squad available to pick unlike the past wrangling between the AIFF and the clubs on release of players for such games.
A win for 168th ranked Indians against their opponents six place higher will be a good chance for them to stop the slide in the Fifa ladder which they have been experiencing despite the Nehru Cup win.
Singapore will be without some key players, including regular captain Shahril Ishak, but it won't be easy for Koeverman's men who have tasted success mostly on home soil.
India and Singapore have played 15 times against each other with the former having won seven matches while India were victorious on six occasions.
The last the two sides met was in 2004 when Singapore won 2-0 in a 2006 Fifa World Cup qualifying match.
Koevermans, himself, knows that it won't be easy against Singapore who were playing the match as preparation for the AFF Suzuki Cup.
"It's nice to get to play a match on a Fifa date. We look to improve ourselves and are looking forward to a good match. It will be a difficult one," Koevermans said in the pre-match press conference.
"We have had a look at Singapore in a video session. They have the home advantage. But we play every game intending to win it and we will want to win this too. But as I said, it's not easy," he said.
