India take on Laos at home with a must-win attitude to end an eventful season on a high

THE BLUE TIGERS are going into the second leg of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers (3rd Round) playoff tie with Laos with a goal's advantage from the 0-1 win in the away leg, and barring something going terribly wrong they will win the tie. 

But coach Constantine and the players are not ready to take any chances with this game. And even in the day and hours leading up to the match, the cautious vibe in the Indian national team camp and practice session was quite palpable. This came not only from the fact that a 1 goal advantage isn't that comforting, and the absence of quite a few squad regulars due to injury, but also to avoid any fatigue-related mishaps on the last day of what has been a very long season.

The Indian domestic calendar, split and congested due to the arrival of the private tournament ISL, has stretched many of the players to their physical limits and is also responsible for quite a few of the injuries that the national team is having to deal with right now.

Thankfully, Constantine was able to make up for it with the squad depth he has created in Team India, and an altered strategy with emphasis on a lower, holding midfield that didn't result in much of pretty football but did end up neutralizing the Laos attack enough to leave them trying long balls and shooting from the distance.

Even Laos coach Valkaone Pomphakdy admitted that a one goal loss in the first leg was rather lucky for them,

"They are a good technical side and they stretched us to our limits in the 1st leg of the fixture. Had they been clinical they could have scored more against us."

The Indian forward line did well to keep up the pressure against Laos but Sunil Chhetri seemed to be having an off day, with him being caught off position a couple of times when Udanta Singh was sending in crosses. It could be a result of the team's tendency to play a bit lower than usual on that night, but hopefully now that they have seen the Laos team up close and are playing at home, that issue can be worked on. Jeje Lalpekhlua, who scored the goal in the first leg and was promptly replaced, has also hopefully left his injury behind and is ready to give it his all later today.

Laos have been pushed further backfoot due to the absence of prolific attacker Maitee. He along with Phomsouvanh had been toughest on the Indian defence in the first leg, although the likes of Arnab Mondal and Sandesh Jhingan had more than held their own. But not having him on the side further blunts a Laos attack that had already appeared lacking on Thursday. But midfielder Holicharan Narzary stressed on the need to stay alert regardless,

"They have pace in attack and are relentless runners. We have to be at the top of our game if we have to defeat them.”

Himself hailing from Assam, Holicharan made it clear that he wanted nothing less than a win from this match, especially to put up a good show for the Guwahati crowd,

 
“Guwahati is a sports loving city. The passion for Football is unparallel in this city... crowd support from the stands adds to our motivation.”

Constantine, too, seemed to echo his sentiments in the pre-match press conference. According to him, with this match getting a live telecast on DD Sports (shamefully still an irregular thing when it comes to the Indian national team) and so many North-Eastern players in the team getting to show off their exploits in the national team jersey in front of a local crowd made it a must-win game,

"This is a perfect opportunity to do show the crowd what they can do.”
 

In the end, that's what it boils down to: despite going in with an advantage, the Blue Tigers are eyeing nothing less than a win, in order to showcase themselves in front of a good home crowd and notch up some crucial FIFA ranking points, so that they can end what seems to be an eventful season on a high.