AFC Asian Cup 2019: Sunil Chhetri to captain India against UAE, confirms manager Stephan Constantine

Abu Dhabi: India head coach Stephen Constantine has confirmed that Sunil Chhetri will captain the team when they face United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their second game of the AFC Asian Cup at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City stadium on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_5866191” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] India head coach Stephen Constantine has confirmed that Sunil Chhetri will captain the team when they face UAE. Image Courtesy: Twitter @IndianFootball[/caption] The English coach has established a policy of rotating the armband within his team ever since beginning his second spell in-charge of The Blue Tigers. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu led the side in their memorable 4-1 win over Thailand in the previous a game, but the Chhetri, who was India’s hero against the Thai after scoring the brace will wear the armband. The Anglo-Cypriot coach confirmed he has no fresh injury worries ahead of the UAE game and suggested his side would go into the game targeting all three points. “We came to the Asian Cup to win and make India proud. We are not changing that approach tomorrow even though we are playing a really good team,” the Indian coach stated. On being asked about the number of points he thinks will be enough to take India into the next stage, Constantine was typically cheeky in his reply. “Nine would certainly be enough, six would do as well, and maybe four would be enough, but we are going for all three tomorrow. We are not here to draw, we want the win.” India’s full-back Pritam Kotal echoed his coach’s though. The new ATK recruit revealed the team was in a great mindset after the Thailand win and are looking forward to putting in another inspired performance. “Our main target is to qualify for the group stage, but the win against Thailand has lifted the spirit of the team. The whole group has been in a great mood in the last few days. We are now looking forward to putting another good show against UAE tomorrow,” Kotal said. India play UAE in Abu Dhabi at 9:30 PM IST on Thursday in their second Group A game.