AFC Asian Cup | Pritam Kotal confident about India's plans against "very good side" UAE
AIFF
After getting off to a winning start in the AFC Asian Cup, Pritam Kotal has mentioned that the Indian team has got the plans ready for the next game against the UAE. The Blue Tigers will meet the hosts today after they won their first game against Thailand by a big margin of 4-1 goals.Â
Stephen Constantine’s men put up a stellar show in the second half of their inaugural game in the AFC Asian Cup to register a big win against Thailand. Led by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Blue Tigers were off to a great start in the tournament as Sunil Chhetri scored a brace and Anirudh Thapa and Jeje Lalpekhlua scored one each in the second half. India, the second youngest side in the tournament with an average age of 25, registered its first win in AFC Asian Cup since 1964.Â
Defender Pritam Kotal is also confident that the Indian side is all set for the second game against the UAE in Abu Dhabi.Â
"We have our plans for the UAE game. You will be able to see them while we implement it on the pitch. They are a very good side. We have a lot of respect for them. But we are ready to give it a real fight."
Placed in the Group A in the prestigious tournament, India will meet Bahrain in the third one and they have an aim of making it to the next round as well.Â
"Every match is difficult. You can't really say which match is tough. Before the Thailand game, would anybody have said that it was going to be easy? Every match is tough. We expect UAE to be a tough game too. They are the hosts. We have to fight in every game and aim to take three points," the right-back explained.Â
Speaking about the team combination, the ATK player said, "Our back four have been playing together for some time now. That has built up our understanding, and the chemistry. We always talk to each other, tell each other where to position ourselves, whom to mark. This has obviously improved since we have been playing together for some time."
Cricket FootBall Kabaddi
Basketball Hockey
SportsCafe
