India try to make most of Nepal tie before stern Iran test

Playing a side ranked 184th in the world is hardly ideal preparation for a match against Asia’s best team. But as India gear up for their 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup joint qualifier against 42nd-ranked Iran on September 8, coach Stephen Constantine had few options before settling for Nepal as their opponent for Monday’s friendly at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune.

No higher-ranked team was willing to travel to India, leaving All India Football Federation (AIFF) with no other choice but to look closer home. Nepal accepted the invitation.

Since Constantine took over as coach, he has been yearning for international exposure. And Nepal will provide some psychological comfort as well. The Englishman began his stint with India with a win over Nepal in the first round of the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year. The result was seen as a new beginning for the team but nothing has gone right ever since. Defeats to Oman and Guam with an identical 2-1 margin have relegated the team to the last spot in Group D of the qualifiers and the team is not likely to have an easy outing against Iran next week.

While the performance against Oman was encouraging, the loss to Guam brought forth the weaknesses in the team. Constantine and AIFF have cited plethora of reasons for the defeats – inability to field Indian-origin players, presence of foreign players in the I-League, lack of preparation ahead of the two ties and little exposure.

Constantine has been moaning about poor match fitness of the players ahead of the Iran tie. The friendly against Nepal, he insisted, will give him a better picture on the team’s preparedness. “There’s a huge issue not only from fitness point of view of also lack of match fitness. The match against Nepal is an opportunity for us to play an international game in preparation for the match against Iran.”