AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers: Confident India eye championship berth against Macau, continue unbeaten run

The word ‘historic’ is being thrown around quite frequently with regard to Indian football. When the country’s U-17 team took the field against the United States of America in a FIFA World Cup a few days back, it was a historic occasion. On Monday, a 16-year-old Jeakson Singh leaped to find the net for India against Colombia, a goal that will go down as a historic moment in the annals of Indian football. [caption id=“attachment_4128987” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Sunil Chhetri. AIFF[/caption] India’s senior team midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh also spoke about making history. India take on Macau on Wednesday in a Group A match of the AFC Asian Qualifiers in Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium. A win will seal India’s spot in 2019 Asia Cup, set to be played in United Arab Emirates. “Even if we draw the match against Macau, we will qualify for Asia Cup. No, we are not eyeing a draw, but for a historic win, which will ensure our place in Asia Cup tournament,” Lyngdoh told reporters in Bengaluru. It might not quite be of historic proportions as the team management believes, since India had last participated in the tournament in 2011 but it surely will be a huge occasion if they manage to qualify for the continental championship after a long wait of six years following consistent struggles. India, who have won all their matches so far, sit pretty on the top of their group with nine points. Earlier in the year, India had defeated Myanmar (1-0) and Kyrgyz Republic (1-0). In their last outing against Macau in September, striker Balwant Singh scored a brace in the second-half to ensure India’s 2-0 victory at the Estádio Campo Desportivo stadium. The timing of the Macau home game couldn’t be more perfect for India. Stephen Constantine’s team is brimming with confidence as they are unbeaten in last 11 matches (including the unofficial friendly against Bhutan last year) and are facing a struggling Macau side that is yet to score in the qualifiers and are placed at 182nd spot on FIFA rankings. But having said that, it’s not going to be a cakewalk for India. Just like how they showed in their last meeting, Macau will concentrate more on their defence and India have to be patient with their approach. Macau will look to break on counter-attack and that’s where India’s defence has to be up to the mark. The likes of Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Pritam Kotal and Pritam Das have been impressive as they didn’t allow the opponents to score a single goal in the qualifiers, but the significance of the Wednesday’s game is huge and the team cannot afford mistakes. “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,” Constantine said during team’s training session in Mumbai last week. India’s head coach will not look to make drastic changes to the starting XI that featured in the last match. Despite scoring three goals in as many matches, Balwant Singh will most likely be on the bench. Constantine will hope that Balwant lives up to his ‘super sub’ reputation and provide some kind of inspiration if the team is finding it hard to break Macau’s defence. As always, much of India’s attacking impetus will depend on skipper Sunil Chhetri. He was not at his very best during both of teams’ last meeting but that might just be the motivating factor for the Bengaluru FC man this time around. It’s worth mentioning that the two players who had an outstanding game in Macau will look to maintain their form on Wednesday. Rowlin Borges in his role as holding midfielder was terrific, putting on the tackles and supporting the attack whenever it was needed while Halicharan Narzary bossed the midfield, constantly creating chances for his team. After suffering a string of defeats, Macau got a positive result when they beat Laos 3-1 in a friendly on 2 October. On Wednesday, Chan Hiu Ming’s team will have a daunting task in stopping the Indians. Their best bet would be to frustrate the Indians and force them to make errors. They would also look make an impact through set-pieces. But considering everything, India definitely start as overwhelming favourites. They would like to make sure the road to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup is clear with a win on Wednesday, making it four victories out of four games. India squad Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Subrata Paul, Albino Gomes. Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Lalruatthara, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Arnab Mondal, Salam Ranjan Singh, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala. Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Rowllin Borges, Md. Rafique, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Halicharan Narzary. Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Balwant Singh.