Mumbai: Indian football team coach Stephen Constantine feels that the AFC Asian Cup qualifier encounter against Macau on October 11 is one of the most significant matches in the country’s history.
India are well placed at the top of group A with nine points from three matches and need just a win against Macau in order to qualify for the AFC Asia Cup.
“We have three more games, but the most important game is the one against Macau on October 11. This will be one of the most significant in our history. If we manage to win this game, we will qualify for the Asian Cup, which would be a tremendous achievement for Indian football,” Constantine said before the next match on Sunday.
In the qualifiers campaign so far, India have defeated Myanmar 1-0, Kyrgyz Republic 1-0 and Macau 2-0. A victory in the next match against Macau will not only earn the country a qualification to the tournament after five years, but also relieve some pressure from the shoulders of the players’ as well as the coach.
“It is in our hands and feet. We know the type of football Macau will try and play. Pretty much as they parked the bus, we will have to be patient, continue to do the hard work and try to find something to unlock them,” said the coach talking about game plan against Macau.
Calling the Macau game a big match Constantine explained that his boys are well up to the task and know the importance of the match.
“The boys know the importance of the game, they know what this could mean for them, Indian football and everybody connected with Indian football. Hopefully we will get the three points.”
The Indian team arrived in Mumbai on Friday for a training camp at the Andheri Sports Complex.
Injuries to players are something that keeps the coaches worried before a big match, but Constantine who has given debut to many youngsters in his second stint with the national team looked on the positive side of it.
“We now have quite a strong core, one guy goes out due to injury, another can come in and there is not too much loss in quality. This was beginning, to try and build a team and build quality. So we are in a better position than we have been for some time,” he concluded.