India will go into Asian Cup as underdogs, says Gurpreet Singh Sandhu

Ahead of Intercontinental Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has opined that India must aim for the best despite four best third-placed nations from the six groups also progressing to the round of 16, alongside the top-two.

“I say we need to aim for the best. But we can’t take things for granted. We need to go in as the underdogs and keep our head down, play one game at a time and take it from there,” Sandhu said as he continues his preparations for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup in Mumbai as reported by Hindustan Times.

“We cannot sit here and plan how and which teams to win points against. We have to focus on our first game on Thailand for starters and then move forward."

Talking about the importance of the four-nation series starting June 1 in Mumbai where India will host Kenya, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in the week-long tournament, the Punjab player stated it as a good opportunity for the preparation of Asian Cup. 

“I think it is a very good chance for us to start building up for the Asian Cup. We are very lucky to have good teams coming to India and giving us this opportunity. It is for us to use them as a learning curve and perform. “You cannot point out one specific area. You have to work on everything. But we have been decent defensively,” observed the 26-year-old.

When asked about India’s counter to Kenya’s physicality he mentioned that India should stick to its strong points to counter-attack Kenya.

“If they are good physically then we are not bad as well. We are good on set pieces and we can take advantage of that. I think Kenya is a very good side. They are physical as well. So we just need to stick to our strong points.”