Hosts take on Guam in sixth game today
Having endured an embarrassing time so far in their FIFA World Cup qualifier campaign, pride will be at stake for India when they take on Guam at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on Thursday.
Having lost their previous five encounters on the trot, the Indians are out of the reckoning for a place in the next round. But, with a shot at the 2019 Asian Cup slot still in their sight the Sunil Chhetri-led side will be expected to give its best against the visitors, who have had a fairytale run so far.
“I don’t think we turned up as what we should have against them in Guam,” said Chhetri. “To be honest, we didn’t play well. And then comes the secondary aspect of travel, turf, weather conditions and so on. But the basic fact -- not playing well -- let us down.
“But tomorrow will be a different game. We are at home and the last thing we want to do is not give our best. I can’t tell you if we’ll win or not, but one thing is for sure, we will give our best. We will play out of our skins,” said the skipper on the eve of the tie.
Moreover, the way the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has chosen to look away from the fact that the Indian side needs preparatory time ahead of international matches, hasn’t helped the matters either.
Time needed
“I hope it (lack of preparation time) doesn’t effect our performance,” Chhetri pointed out.
“But one should also know that we are a new bunch. 16 players made their debut this year and we have a new coach. We need to understand the strategies, we need to have it in the back of our head. Once that is achieved, the preparatory time will come down. But till then, we need time,” he added after the team had also lost a day of practice due to bad weather on Tuesday.
While the Indians have struggled to register even a point in Group D, their opponents for Thursday have been grabbing headlines with their fearless and result-producing football.
Winning the opening two games in July, Guam — who then occupied the top spot in the group that also has the top ranked Asian side Iran apart from Oman and Turkmenistan — have their eyes set at a place in the second round of the campaign.
“Our target is set. We will be looking for three points and nothing less. The coach has made it clear and we know that,” said defender AJ DeLaGarza.
“They are at home and we know that they will come hard at us. But we are prepared and we will surely tackle the problem swiftly,” he added.
With torrential rains expected, it will be interesting to see how the home side, backed by their noisy supporters, fare against a fearless Guamanian side which will be eyeing for nothing less than three points.
Having lost their previous five encounters on the trot, the Indians are out of the reckoning for a place in the next round. But, with a shot at the 2019 Asian Cup slot still in their sight the Sunil Chhetri-led side will be expected to give its best against the visitors, who have had a fairytale run so far.
“I don’t think we turned up as what we should have against them in Guam,” said Chhetri. “To be honest, we didn’t play well. And then comes the secondary aspect of travel, turf, weather conditions and so on. But the basic fact -- not playing well -- let us down.
“But tomorrow will be a different game. We are at home and the last thing we want to do is not give our best. I can’t tell you if we’ll win or not, but one thing is for sure, we will give our best. We will play out of our skins,” said the skipper on the eve of the tie.
Moreover, the way the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has chosen to look away from the fact that the Indian side needs preparatory time ahead of international matches, hasn’t helped the matters either.
Time needed
“I hope it (lack of preparation time) doesn’t effect our performance,” Chhetri pointed out.
“But one should also know that we are a new bunch. 16 players made their debut this year and we have a new coach. We need to understand the strategies, we need to have it in the back of our head. Once that is achieved, the preparatory time will come down. But till then, we need time,” he added after the team had also lost a day of practice due to bad weather on Tuesday.
While the Indians have struggled to register even a point in Group D, their opponents for Thursday have been grabbing headlines with their fearless and result-producing football.
Winning the opening two games in July, Guam — who then occupied the top spot in the group that also has the top ranked Asian side Iran apart from Oman and Turkmenistan — have their eyes set at a place in the second round of the campaign.
“Our target is set. We will be looking for three points and nothing less. The coach has made it clear and we know that,” said defender AJ DeLaGarza.
“They are at home and we know that they will come hard at us. But we are prepared and we will surely tackle the problem swiftly,” he added.
With torrential rains expected, it will be interesting to see how the home side, backed by their noisy supporters, fare against a fearless Guamanian side which will be eyeing for nothing less than three points.
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