Maziya Sports and Recreation Club has headed to neighboring India ahead of its match against Chennai City in the group stages of the ongoing AFC Cup.

Maziya departed to Chennai, India on Saturday and in scheduled to go head-to-head against Chennai City in the first match of the group stage on 11 March, a Wednesday.

The match will begin at 7pm local time, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

As the group stage matches are to kick off, two teams from Maldives are set to compete. This is the first time two Maldivian teams are competing in the group stages since the AFC Cup format was amended in 2016, allowing South Asian teams to compete in the same group.

Maziya qualified for the group stage after beating Indian Super Cup League Champions, Bengaluru FC in the second leg of the playoffs held on 26 February.

Maziya is in Group E along with TC Sports Club, India’s Chennai City and Bangladesh’s Bashundhara Kings.

“Best Player” of this year’s Second Division Football Tournament, Adam Nizam is included in the team. Nizam was included in the national squad following an injury celebrated forward Asadhulla Adbulla attained during the first leg of the AFC Cup playoffs held in capital city Malé