India to bank on strong run vs Macau
INDIA ARE FRESH FROM WINNING A THREENATION TOURNAMENT IN MUMBAI, WHERE THEY DEFEATED MAURITIUS AND DREW WITH ST KITTS AND NEVIS.
The Indian football team will be looking to continue their winning run when they face Macau in a crucial AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifier on Tuesday. Sunil Chhetri’s men are currently unbeaten in their last ten games and with victories over Myanmar and Kyrghyzstan, they will surely be confident of a good show against a side which is going through a five match winless streak.
India are fresh from winning a three-nation tournament in Mumbai, where they defeated Mauritius and drew with St Kitts and Nevis. The competition allowed coach Stephen Constantine to test his bench strength and the inclusion of six U-23 footballers in the squad is a good indication of how the coach feels about the youngsters.
In the last two and a half years, 30 players have made their debut under Constantine and former Indian footballer IM Vijayan compared his strategy to that of Germany coach Joachim Loew, who won the 2017 Confederations Cup with a second string side.
“Germany coach Joachim Loew preferred a team with an average age of 24 years and went on to win the tournament. Constantine is walking on the same path,” Vijayan told AIFF media.
Another former footballer – Deepak Mondal – was all praise for the Indian defence which had not conceded for three matches before the tri-nation series. Mondal said that the record shows the co-ordination between the defenders and it can be a huge asset for the side.
“I learnt they didn’t concede a goal for 300-odd minutes. That’s really stupendous in international football at any point of time. It shows that the defenders, the goalkeeper and others are perfectly synchronised and they’ve to maintain this until the job is finished.”
The current scenario clearly points towards an Indian victory, but Constantine is not happy with his team’s finishing skills and he called the draw against St Kitts a ‘wake-up call’ for the side. The coach said Sandesh Jhingan & Co should have not settled for a draw, although it was sufficient to help them lift the trophy. “The game against St Kitts and Nevis was a wake-up call for us. We made a mistake in defending a corner and we paid for it. To me, it was a lesson learnt as we need to be more focused,” he said.