Kolkata: Team India will look to continue their impressive run in the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifiers, as they take on Macau in a crucial qualifying game on Tuesday. The Indian football team has so far won all the matches of the qualifying campaign and are comfortably placed on top of the group of three, having beaten both, Myanmar and Krygyzstan by solitary goals from the captain Sunil Chhetri.
The Indian team of late has been in fine form, having remained unbeaten in their last 10 matches and have beaten the likes of Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Nepal that has helped the team achieve it’s highest FIFA ranking of 96 in the last 21 years. With all this achievements recently,
complacency is what Constantine fears .
“It’s true that we are at the top of the table at the moment but we need to work harder if we are to stay there,” he said adding, “2019 isn’t far and we have to be there.”
The 183rd ranked Macau however, did not have the same fortune as their opposition on Tuesday, having lost both the qualifying matches they have played so far, while also leaking five goals. But Constantine is not someone to take the opposition lightly.
He said, “I feel Macau were a bit unlucky against the Kyrgyz Republic.”
He further said, “But we are here to play our game and we need to concentrate on ourselves.”
With so many talented youngsters coming up the ranks, also combined with the form of the current stars, it is always a headache for the coach to select the right XI, but it is a something that Constantine loves. The recent success of the team has also helped to maintain the harmony of the players in the dressing room and there is a strong camaraderie among the players, who back and support each other.
“It’s not about who plays on the field. We all are playing for a cause. It’s Mission Macau,” informed Constantine, clinching his fists.
Captain Sunil Chhetri who has been the savoiue for the team on many occasions, scoring late goals to win matches for the country knows Macau at their home ground can always be dangerous. He said, “We are a confident group. We are confident of our abilities. But we are not judging Macau by what happened to them in their last two matches. It’s a fresh match, and we start afresh.”
With heavy rains surrounding the Macau Olympic Complex, it looks to be a tough match for the visiting team . But captain Chhetri sounded confident when he said, “We are used to the rain. It was raining even in Bangalore and Mumbai. We are professionals and as professionals, we need to adjust to the weather.”
As for Macau, this match is their shot at redemption as the team looks overturn their fortune under new coach Chan Hiu Ming, who took up the responsibility of the head coach after Tam Lao San quit the national team in July.