All the boys look fit and are raring to give their best, claims Udanta Singh
Udanta Singh has stated that the players in the Indian team are in good condition and eager to perform in the World Cup qualifiers, which will be quite a difficult challenge for them. He further talked about the new coach, recent tournaments, experience of playing in home grounds and his own form.
The Indian football team is all set to start it’s FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign on the 5th of September against Oman in Guwahati, with a place in the Asia Cup also at stake. Oman are currently placed 16 places above India who sit in the 103rd position in the world rankings. The group also contains Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who are ranked 182nd and 149th respectively.
“All the qualifying round matches are going to be real test for us. We will give our best to go to the next round. Each match is crucial for us. Higher or lower rank does not matter on the pitch. It is the performance which is going to decide the game (against Oman),” Indian winger Udanta Singh was reported saying by Hindustan Times.
The Indian team will be playing its second home fixture at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata against Bangladesh on October 15, while the venue for the third fixture is yet to be announced. Over the years, the national team’s matches have seen a much improved average attendance as the football craze slowly spreads across the country.
“Playing in front of the home crowd has always been amazing. They are there to back us throughout the game. It gives us hope till the end of the game. We will try to better our performance from the last campaign and we will work on our mistakes,” the 23-year-old said.
India has so far disappointed as far as results are concerned over the past few months, with the Blues losing in the semifinals of the King’s Cup and managing to just accumulate a single point in the Intercontinental Cup, finishing at the bottom. However, they have shown some major positives in their quality of football and have a lot to take from the experiences of playing some of Asia’s finest teams.
“We all are doing hard work in the ground and gym. All the boys look fit. We are all hoping to do our best on the field. From the Kings’ Cup and Hero Intercontinental Cup, we got to learn our strengths and weaknesses and now we are working on them accordingly,” he said.
Ever since Igor Stimac has taken over the reigns a few months ago, he has tried to instill a new brand of attacking football in the team. The World Cup semi-finalist coach has integrated tactics to support possession-based football as well as made his players build from the defensive line.
“All the boys want to play with the ball and the coach wants to build up from behind. But it is not easy so we try again and again. Mistakes will happen but the coach is there to help us with our mistakes. I like whatever works for all of us,” Udanta said.
Having made his debut in 2016, the Manipur-based footballer has accumulated 22 caps for India but has only managed to score a solitary goal, which came against Chinese Taipei in June last year.
“Every player wants to score for their team, especially for the national team. I do like it when I score and I want to score more but I am not that concerned with that as long as our team wins. I want to improve in finishing, crossing and my decision making in one-on-one situation,” he concluded on the matter.
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