The goalkeeper was just 18 years old when he was included in the India squad for the 2011 edition when the Blue Tigers were drawn alongside continental heavyweights Australia, Korea Republic and Bahrain.

And although Gurpreet got no game time as the South Asians ultimately lost all three of their matches, he looks back on the experience as a positive one that helped him progress in his career.

The Blue Tigers will be competing in the Continental showpiece for the fourth time in their history, having previously participated in the 1964, 1984 and 2011 editions.

Head coach Stephen Constantine had named a 34-man preliminary squad for the biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup which was trimmed to 28 before boarding the plane to Abu Dhabi. A final list of 23-players will be announced next week.

The Englishman, who has been in charge of the Indian side since January 2015, will be going head-to-head with Thailand coach Milovan Rajevac for the first time in almost a decade, with the experienced Serb having come out ahead the last time they met.

“He is a very good coach and has great experience, I faced him a few years ago when he was in Ghana and I was with Sudan, he won that game 2-0 so I’m looking to even up the score,” Constantine told the-AFC.com.

“But I would like to remind you that he had Michael Essien, Mathew Amoa and a few other very good players.

As the only remaining member of the side that reached the 2011 edition, which ended a hiatus that exceeded a quarter of a century, bombastic platitudes would be an easy card to play. But talking up potential upsets and derailing the continental giants are far from the 34-year-old’s priorities. The big picture is what dominates his outlook.

“I was really dejected when we missed out on the last edition,” he admitted to FIFA.com.

“I think it’s very, very important for a country like us to keep qualifying for this big tournament, because that tells you where you are and if you’re doing well.

“It also gives you a chance to rub shoulders with the biggest teams in Asia. If you do well, other teams take notice of you.”

Now in his second spell at the helm, Arnold will oversee his country’s challenge at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 hoping to surpass the quarter-final showing in South East Asia and build on his own success as a coach in the ensuing dozen years.

““It feels great,” he told the-AFC.com of his return to the competition. “In 2007 I was the interim coach and I probably didn’t deserve to be in that job and that role at that time, but I have gone away and worked hard in club land and I feel that I deserve the role this time. So, I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“It was our first time in Asia and it was our first time in a major tournament in Asia, so we learnt a lot from it. We learnt that you need to prepare properly, that there are no easy games, that you need to be mentally switched on for every game, and that you need to adapt to the conditions to the style of game that you play.”

Next in the-AFC.com's '10 of the Best' series, we've compiled a list of veterans who continue to perform at the very highest level for club and country, and will be striving to inspire their nations to glory come January.

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