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Jamshedpur FC head coach Aidy Boothroyd remained confident of the team’s chances of success as the Men of Steel prepare to take on Mumbai City FC to decide India’s representative at the 2023-24 AFC Champions League.
“Very much so”, Aidy said, when asked about whether he was looking forward to the game.
“The players have been training really hard on their fitness. We’ve had a couple of games, we’ve managed to get the players back to where they were physically and everybody’s very positive and looking forward to this one. We’ve hit a really good patch of form in the last half of the ISL season and we want to keep that momentum going into the next few games starting with Mumbai City.”
The AFC Champions League is an international football tournament hosted by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is played among the top teams of the continent of Asia. For their upcoming season, AFC allotted a total of three slots to India — one in the AFC Champions League Group Stage, one in the AFC Cup Group Stage, and one slot for the AFC Cup Qualifiers. The qualifying games for these spots will be played between April 4 and May 3, 2023.
After the Men of Steel clinched the club’s first ever silverware in their record-breaking 2021-22 season, the ISL’s League Winners Shield, they took one step closer to Asia’s most prestigious competition.
Later in the 2022-23 season, Mumbai City FC also secured their chance to play in their second AFC Champions League Group Stage as they went on to end a triumphant season as the ISL League Shield Winners.
On April 4, 2023, the league toppers from the seasons 2021–22 and 2022–23 (Jamshedpur FC & Mumbai City FC respectively) will be battling it out in the Club Playoffs which will guarantee a spot in the AFC Champions League Group Stage for the 2023–24 season.
This fixture will be a one-off qualifying game between these two representatives of the Indian Super League and is scheduled to be played in between the Super Cup.
“It’ll be a tough game because they’re a really good team, ISL Shield Champions, but we’re really looking forward to the game”, Boothroyd said.
“We feel there’s a bit of unfinished business with Mumbai City. We played really well at their place and came away with a draw and our game at home we lost in the dying minutes to a mishit cross so we felt a bit aggrieved about that but that’s football.”
The Hero Club Playoffs between Jamshedpur FC and Mumbai City FC will be played in Manjeri or in Kozhikode, Kerala on April 4, 2023.
