By Ajay Majumder
MUMBAI: Indian National Football team will host Puerto Rico in a international friendly match at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai on Saturday.
This will be the first time since November 2011 when a non-Asian country visits India after Zambia, and also the first occasion in two years when India hosting a high-ranked opponent after Palestine in October 2014.
Recently, India have been on a good form, having defeated Laos 7-1 on aggregate in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers in June. Then the Blue Tigers went on to defeat Bhutan 3-0 in a unofficial game last month at Thimpu, Bhutan.
Indian coach Stephen Constantine, who has introduced 32 new faces in International Football since taking over in Januray 2015, will once again rely on a bunch of young side beside seniors like Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Arnab Mondal.
“We are very motivated to play against a high-ranked opponent. If you want to go higher it’s important that you play against stronger sides. I would rather lose 4-0 to Iran than win 3-0 against a weaker Nation,” Constantine said.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will lead the Blue Tigers tomorrow against Puerto Rico.
On the other hand, Puerto Rico, who are placed 114 in the FIFA Rankings, came to India with almost a full-strength squad and the islanders are looking to use this game as an avenue to assess their squad ahead of the 2017 Caribbean Cup qualifiers against Antigua and Barbuda.
Led by Spanish coach Carlos García Cantarero, Puerto Rico lost 0-1 to Dominican Republic in their last fixture on August 30, came here without their all time top scorer Hector Ramos.
Along with Ramos two other strikers in Jorge Rivera and Joseph Marrero have also skipped the tour for dispute with the Puerto Rican Football Federation over daily allowance for expenses and the absence of three first-team strikers would definately weaken the Puerto Rico front-line.
However, that was not the end of Puerto Rico’s misery as the entire team had missed their to Mumbai from New York on Thursday and only reach here on this evening but their coach Carlos García Cantarero stays positive ahead of the clash and hopes for a good competitive match.
Speaking about the opponenets India coach Constantine said, “Puerto Rico were one of the best movers in the FIFA Rankings. They are a good side with many good Players. Yes, one may mention about their landing timing in Mumbai but you cannot take away their quality.”
The game at the Andheri Sports Complex kicks off at 8.00 pm on Saturday will be telecast live on Star Sports 2.
