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'We can't be complacent'

Train hard, give your best: urges Chhetri
Last Updated 03 September 2015, 19:20 IST

 Sending out a word of caution for his team-mates in the national side, Indian striker Sunil Chhetri said that the team cannot be complacent in its approach in the coming games if it has to achieve its goal of qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup.

“It’s (a positive result) really important. And it’s getting difficult, especially after the Guam loss,” the ace forward told Deccan Herald.

“From now on, we need to give our best against the bigger names and drop nothing — home or away — against the others. We just can’t afford to lose against Turkmenistan and Guam, at home. But all said and done, we need to take one game at a time and not hurry into the whole procedure.”

The Indian football team is staring at an early exit from the FIFA World Cup qualifiers after their loss in the opening two games at the hands of Oman and Guam.

While the Indians put up a brave fight against the Omani side, they were thoroughly outplayed in their tie against Guam who were ranked below India at that point in time.

“After the Oman game, our performance took a dip against Guam. It was very disappointing. When we lost to Guam, I just had one thing to tell the boys, ‘go back and train as hard as you can.’

“As players, we can’t expect ourselves to be someone else. We need to know what we are, and where we stand. The only thing we can do is to train hard and prepare ourselves for the coming games,” he added.

Iran challenge

India take on the Asian heavyweights, Iran, in their next encounter on September 8. And with almost 20 days of training under their belt and a friendly game against Nepal, which ended in a stalemate, it still needs to be seen if the Indian camp made the most of their available time after the Guam drubbing in June. Chhetri, however, was optimistic about his side’s chances. “For the Indian team, who are due to play a team like Iran, I think whatever time we get is less,” said the 31-year-old.

“But things don’t work on those lines. A national team doesn’t get that much time, unless it’s a World Cup or a Euro or a Copa America. You can’t complain. We have had close to 20 days. It’s not bad, but for India, preparing for a tie against Iran, that’s not enough. And also because most of the players are coming on the back of a long gap, it’s just not enough,” he added.

With a younger side in his company, Chhetri will once again be expected to lead the Indian attack against the might of Iran, and the BFC captain assured that he was ready for the challenge.

“I love playing games like these. As a footballer in India, I don’t think I can ask for something more than this. Playing against Iran, who play the World Cup on a regular basis.

“I hope the new guys also realise the responsibility they have when they play for the country. And I hope that we put up a good show against Iran next week,” he concluded.

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(Published 03 September 2015, 19:20 IST)

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