Kolkata, West Bengal: Talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri, who has already scored 72 international goals in 112 matches believes that “India Team won’t need” him to make a difference when the Blue Tigers go out against Bangladesh tomorrow (Tuesday, October 15, 2019). The match is scheduled to kick-off at 7:30 PM IST.

“India team won’t need a Sunil Chhetri to make a difference. I’m just a little bit luckier and a little bit more experienced. I’m not trying to be cliché, it’s a fact,” Chhetri mentioned in the pre-match press conference ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Joint Qualifier at the VYBK Stadium, Kolkata on Tuesday.

On being informed that Bangladesh defenders will heavily mark him, he jokingly said, “That’s the plan”,

“If three people mark me, even four, we’ll be happy. We can even have tea together,” he quipped.

“It’ll be 10 vs 6, and we’ll get a numerical advantage. You need to understand that it’s not only about me. Manvir, Balwant, Udanta, Ashique all are way better than me. You’ll see it tomorrow,” the 35-year-old added.

Here's how the #BlueTigers 🐯 fared against Bangladesh 🇧🇩 in their last 3⃣2⃣ encounters! 🙌#INDBAN ⚔ #WCQ 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/0nEOMPOjIB

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) October 14, 2019

Coach Igor Stimac brushed aside the ‘favourites’ tag and stressed on the ‘team mentality’ during the pre-match press conference.

“Being favourite doesn’t matter on the matchday. You need to step up and perform on the pitch. It’s 11 vs 11. In a football match, there are always favourites and underdogs,” Stimac added, “You have to respect your teammates. You need to sacrifice yourself for the team – that’s how a team is built and that’s how we have started our work. What I can do for the team is of paramount importance.”

Meanwhile, he showed immense respect for his counterpart, who had played with ‘heart’ against Asian champions Qatar four days before (October 10, 2019).

“They played with a great heart and created quite a few chances against Qatar. They deserved to win the game. We need to step up and get all three points tomorrow,” he continued.

He further stated, “With regards to the game, lots of passion will be involved tomorrow. We have shown great organisation and discipline on the pitch. On our day, we can play against anyone.”

The gigantic VYBK Stadium 🏟️ is all set to host tomorrow's @FIFAWorldCup qualifier against Bangladesh 🇧🇩#BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽ #INDBAN ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/2OFBXByIWy

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) October 14, 2019

“Tomorrow’s game is absolutely different from the first two. No one counted on us. I feel the pressure is on us and we need to work to release the kind of pressure from us. We just need to win the game and give us a chance for November. Let’s wait and see what our boys can do tomorrow.”

The Blue Tigers will have back-to-back away fixtures against Afghanistan and Oman on November 14 and 19, 2019 respectively.

The India vs Bangladesh match will be telecast live on Star Sports network and streamed live on Hotstar and Jio TV.

(AIFF Media)

Doha, Qatar: In what can be termed as Indian Senior National Team’s most significant result in recent times, a resolute India held Asian Champions Qatar to a goalless draw at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in their second Group E match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 joint qualifiers.

Qatar, who beat Japan 3-1 in the final of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, are currently ranked 62 in the FIFA Rankings, while India are at 103.

Even as Head Coach Igor Stimac made four changes to India’s starting line-up which played Oman in the first match, the biggest setback stayed that talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri wasn’t able to recover in time from his viral infection. So much so, that he wasn’t even on the bench, but watched from the stands.

After having absorbed all the pressure in the first half, the Blue Tigers opened up – waiting to catch the Asian Champions on the wrong foot off on the counter-attack. And it happened quite a few times.

30' Half an hour into the match, and it's been an onslaught by the @afcasiancup champions. However, the Indian defence has held firm!

🇶🇦 0-0 🇮🇳#QATIND ⚔ #WCQ 🌏🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/1TCCpNI3Hy

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 10, 2019

In the 51st minute, Udanta received it from Sahal, outpaced Abdelkarim Hasan and tried to find Manvir Singh, who was backing up; but it was a bit too long for the latter.

Six minutes later, Sahal breached the Qatari midfield once again but Assim Madibo played foul, thus earning a yellow card.

By that time, the Indians had grown in confidence, the one-twos keeping the rivals guessing. At times, the Indians were confident, and content to play it among themselves in their own penalty box, and then relaying it to the wings, or down the middle.

At the hour mark, India came close once again, but Sahal’s left-footed volley off an Anirudh Thapa corner missed narrowly.

With nine minutes to go, Udanta, who with his pace hassled Abdelkarim in the second-half, could have scripted the most glorious moment. But as he cut in, his left-footer did curl, but didn’t dip much to create the difference – missing by a whisker.

Earlier in the first-half, the Indians were willing to stay back and absorb the pressure, preferring to play the waiting game. Qatar came out all guns blazing and created lot many opportunities threatening to take the lead, but captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stood up like a superman, defying and frustrating the Asian Champions.

Twice in the first 10 minutes, Gurpreet denied his rival counterpart Hassan Al Heidos, thus growing in confidence, and transporting it to the entire team, who weren’t willing to give away an inch.

In fact, the Indians were stubborn. The Qataris enjoyed the possession, but timely interceptions, tackles, and with one backing the other and defending as a team, Qatar weren’t able to break free.

Gurpreet came with some scintillating saves, including one to deny Almoez Ali in the dying minutes of the first-half, as both teams headed to the interval locked goalless.

Clean sheet ✅
Thunder ⚡ Claps ✅
Holding the Asian Champs ✅#QATIND ⚔ #WCQ 🌏🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/wj2JAdaqfM

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 10, 2019

Courtesy the draw, India move to one point from two matches with Qatar currently topping the group with four points from the same number of games.

India next play Bangladesh in their next match on October 15 at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan, in Kolkata.

(AIFF Media | Picture: AFC Media)

The Team

India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK) (C), Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Mandar Rao Desai, Udanta Singh, Rowllin Borges, Anirudh Thapa (Narender Gahlot 90+2′), Nikhil Poojary (Brandon Fernandes 68′), Samad Abdul Sahal (Manvir Singh 75′), Vinit Rai

Final Score: Qatar 0 drew with India 0

Doha, Qatar: The history book points out that India have never beaten Qatar in an official match. The history book also points out that Qatar are the defending Asian Champions, and one among the two Asian teams who earned an invitation to play the Copa America Brazil 2019.

Nevertheless, a day before India take on Qatar in the Group E match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 joint qualifiers, Indian National Team Head Coach Igor Stimac stressed “anything is possible in football.” Stimac was speaking at the official pre-match press conference in Doha.

“I know the Qatar team pretty well. Their physical strength is great, and their technical capabilities, and movements are fantastic. It’s difficult to find any weak point in their squad,” Stimac stated.

“But in Football, everything is possible. You never give up,” he added.

The match slated to take place at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha and will kick-off at IST 10 PM (7.30 PM local time) tomorrow (September 10, 2019). The Blue Tigers are currently ranked 103 in the latest FIFA Ranking while the hosts are in 62nd place.

“We didn’t have much time after the Oman game. Even as we know Qatar are a very good team, we are trying to give everything on the pitch. So we have been working on the players, and talking to them on how to prepare.”

"We must do our best." 💪@Ashique_22 issues rallying call ahead of the #BlueTigers' 💙🐯 crucial clash against the reigning @afcasiancup champions Qatar 🇶🇦 #BackTheBlue #IndianFootball #WCQ #AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/5oC787loZg

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) September 9, 2019

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, mentioned that it is a “good opportunity to play Qatar.”

“Not getting a result against Oman was disappointing for us. But as a player you have to take it in your stride, and move on to the next challenge. We think it’s a good opportunity to play against Qatar. We will try our best, and try to get a result from the game,” Gurpreet commented.

Referring back to India’s 1-2 loss against Oman in their opening Group E fixture where India conceded two goals in the last 8 minutes, Stimac dismissed talks of fitness worries playing spoilsport.

“Fitness is not a concern. Effectiveness of running is important. A more experienced team would have known when and how to run. We were wasting too much of our energy.”

The two teams have just met once at the senior level, way back in 1996, Qatar had pumped in half a dozen, winning 6-0 in the World Cup Qualifiers for FIFA World Cup France 1998. Apart from that, the two countries have met four times in U-23 competitions with Qatar having won thrice, while the other ended in a draw.

The Croatian coach who guided Croatia to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 also explained that he is “working on developing more young players”.

“It’s still early days for me. We haven’t got enough match time. We played well against Oman, we had better possession, more chances, especially in the first half. We are a young team, learning and growing with every step,” he quipped.

(AIFF Media)

Guwahati, Assam: Oman made a late comeback to defeat India 2-1 in the opening Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Thursday, September 5, 2019.

The Blue Tigers’ talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri opened the scoring, but Oman made their comeback in the last 10 minutes, when Al-Mandhar Al Alawi struck a brace to win the match for the away side.

India got the early start that they were looking for, with Ashique Kuruniyan running his legs off in the attacking midfield position.

The Blue Tigers had their first real chance around the quarter-hour mark, when Thapa intercepted a ball in the middle of the park, played it to Chhetri, who put Udanta through. The winger jinked past an Oman defender and rattled the cross-bar.

https://twitter.com/IndianFootball/status/1169640985166409734

Soon after, Ashique was played into the box as he took the ball away from the rushing keeper Faiyz Al Rusheidi. However, 22-year-old was in too tight an angle to score.

The early pressure by the Blue Tigers soon paid the dividends, as Ashique was brought down on the left flank by Abdulaziz Al Gheilani, who went into the books for the mis-timed tackle.

It was a combination of Brandon Fernandes and Sunil Chhetri from the resulting free-kick, as they worked-out a set-piece straight from the training ground. Brandon drilled it in hard and low for Chhetri, who lost his marker and planted the sweetest of left-footers into the bottom corner, sending the partisan crowd of 22,798 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati into ecstacy.

With a couple of minutes left for the half-time whistle, Oman captain Ahmed Al Mahaijri had the golden opportunity to put the away side level. A cross played from the right flank found Mahaijri on the other end of it, as the Oman captain went in with a powerful header. However, India custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu put in a strong hand to parry it away from point-blank range; Mahaijri failed to hit the target from the rebound.

Igor Stimac’s boys applied a much more cautious approach after the change of ends, and the equaliser nearly came from the most unlikeliest of sources – a miscued clearance by Anirudh Thapa. However, Gurpreet was on hand again, to tip it over the bar. The 27-year-old custodian bailed India out again a few minutes later, when he calmly collected a precise free-header by Abdulaziz Al Maqbali.

On the hour-mark, Stimac decided to add some pace to the wings, as he brought on Lallianzuala Chhangte in place of Brandon Fernandes. While Oman attempted to get the equaliser, Sunil Chhetri tried to use Chhangte’s pace as he played the youngster through on the counter. However, he scuffed his eventual shot.

Oman left it late, but they came back in the last 10 minutes, when Al-Mandhar Al Alawi scored two to win it for Oman. For their first goal, Al-Mandhar was played into the India box via a lofted through ball, as the attacker dinked it over Gurpreet to equalise.

The 24-year-old struck the winner on last minute of regulation time, as he cut in from the left and rifled his shot into the back of the net.

(AIFF Media)

The Team

India: Gurpreet Singh Sanshu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Subhasish Bose (Sahal Abdul Samad 90+2′), Anirudh Thapa, Rowllin Borges, Brandon Fernandes (Lallianzuala Chhangte 60′), Ashique Kuruniyan (Manvir Singh 78′), Sunil Chhetri (C), Udanta Singh

Final Score: India 1 (Sunil Chhetri 24′) lost to Oman 2 (Al Mundhir Al Alawi 82′, 90′)

Guwahati, Assam: The Indian senior national team begins its joint qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 against Oman at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday (September 5, 2019) and at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday (September 4, 2019), head coach Igor Stimac stated that his team is up ready and “well prepared” to meet the challenge.

“The preparations for the game went really well and as a coach, I am happy. This will be our third campaign and I am happy with the improvement in the team in terms of the understanding levels of the players and their fitness levels. We are well concentrated and well prepared,” he said.

The last meeting between the two teams was in a friendly match in December last year that ended in a goalless draw. Talking about the upcoming task, the Croatian mentioned that the team will look to be “strong and organized” on the pitch.

He added: “Our aim for tomorrow will be to be strong and organized. In our previous games, we have shown that we can handle good teams and play organized for the full 90 minutes. We may have conceded a few goals but we have shown that we can play better against better opponents.”

Talismanic forward Sunil Chhetri, who has scored 71 goals in 111 appearances for the Blue Tigers, stated that there is a “pulse of excitement” in the team with just one day to go for the crucial game.

“There is a great eagerness in the team and one really feel the pulse of excitement among the boys. We are really looking forward to the game. We had a great training camp and everyone in the team is fit and hungry. The players are gelling well and responding to what the coach expects from them,” Sunil mentioned.

In 2015, it was Sunil who scored the only goal for India in a 2-1 loss against Oman in a qualifying match for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018. Referring to that match, Sunil said, “We weren’t great in that game and conceded very early. We lost 2-1 and had a goal chalked off for offside as well. We certainly hope we do well this time around. All the boys are optimistic, especially with a lot of fans expected at the stadium.”

MATCHDAY! 🔥🤩🙌🏻

The #BlueTigers 🐯 begin their #WCQ 🌏🏆 campaign against Oman 🇴🇲 in Guwahati today! 🏟#INDOMA ⚔ #BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/Nc3vGrL4WA

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 5, 2019

Coach Stimac also stressed upon the need to be “wise and concentrated” while playing in such matches.

He said, “We respect all opponents and what is important is to have a strong belief in the dressing room. No opponent is unbeatable and we need to be wise and concentrated in our game.”

Sunil also touched upon how all players, despite a majority of them being young, are “well aware” of what is expected of them and how he prefers to let his actions do the talking.

“It is a young team, but I don’t have to talk to them once. Each player is well aware of what is expected of him and the coach speaks whatever is needed. I just have to be a good example for the players and will keep doing so whenever I am here,” he concluded.

The match between India and Oman will be aired live on Star Sports 3, Star Sports 1 Bangla and Asianet Plus, and will also be streamed online on Hotstar and Jio TV.

After facing Oman, the Blue Tigers will travel to Doha to face Qatar in their next FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier on September 10, 2019. Afghanistan and Bangladesh are the other two teams that make up Group E.

(AIFF Media)