Puerto Rico team’s arrival delayed after missed flight

The arrival of the Puerto Rico football team, due to play India in a friendly on Saturday, into Mumbai has been delayed after the squad missed the connecting flight from New York City.

The team will now reach Mumbai by Friday evening. The match is scheduled to be played at 8 pm on Saturday at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai.

The delay means the visitors will get just over 24 hours to acclimatise, and they are unlikely to hold any training session in Mumbai.

The travel trouble will also means the Puerto Rico head coach

Carlos Garcia Cantarero will not be present at the pre-match press conference on Friday. The customary managers’ meeting with match officials (which usually takes place a day before the match) has been rescheduled to Saturday morning on account of the change in schedule.

Puerto Rico will arrive in Mumbai after two losses in friendly encounters against Dominican Republic. The first was a 0-5 away rout on August 28, which was followed by a 1-0 defeat at home on August 30.

Contests between the two island countries have the fervour of a local rivalry, which the Puerto Rican Football Federation has described as a Caribbean Classic.

Ranked 114 in the world, Puerto Rico are rated much higher than India (152).

Post the friendly with India, they will be competing in the third round of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualification. They are scheduled to play away to Antigua and Barbuda on October 8 and at home to Curacao on October 11 as they bid to qualify for the tournament for the first time; it will also provide an opportunity to qualify for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

For India, the friendly represents an opportunity to play a higher-ranked team as they hope to collect points to improve their standing in the Fifa rankings.

THE DELAY MEANS THE VISITORS WILL GET JUST OVER 24 HOURS TO ACCLIMATISE, AND ARE UNLIKELY TO HOLD ANY TRAINING SESSION