Raring to go,says skipper Baichung

Fresh from their 3-1 victory against Vietnam,players of the Indian team were upbeat as they came down to a city based store to interact with fans.

Fresh from their 3-1 victory against Vietnam,players of the Indian team were upbeat as they came down to a city based store to interact with fans. Baichung Bhutia,Subrata Pal,Steven Dias and Sunil Chettri,who came to the Venky’s Xpress Outlet on Saturday spoke about the ongoing friendlies at the Balewadi Stadium.

The team is looking good and after our win against Vietnam and I think we will be going into the match against Yemen with a very positive outlook, said Bhutia. Bhutia who is the captain of the Indian team is currently sitting out owing to an injury and will also miss the final match against Yemen. He has already missed the first two matches against Hong Kong and Vietnam. Bhutia also ruled out any possibility of him playing on the 13 th . I think I should be fit by the first week of November. Right now after the third match we have a two week break where we will be with our families,and then regroup in the first week of November. I should be in a position to play by then, he said.

The Indian Team which lost its first match to Hong Kong by a lone goal,eventually won the third match against Vietnam with a convincing 3-1 scoreline on Friday. The architect of the victory Sunil Chettri said that while in the first game against Hong Kong,there were a lot of missed chances,the game against Vietnam proved the credibility of the current squad. It was a team effort, he said adding,All the players have been hard at practice and the results show in the fact that we are gelling well.

India next play Yemen who are ranked at 107,as compared to India’s 160 and are one of the better teams in West Asia. Bhutia however feels rankings are subjective and do not indicate a team’s performance on a given day. He said,I mean we managed to beat higher placed Namibia but lost to Hong Kong. Again we also managed to beat Vietnam that was ranked 25 places higher. So it doesn’t really matter whether they are ranked higher or lower. What is important is that we need to give our best to them and ensure that we play well.

Chettri also hopes that this time around there will be a reversal of fortunes this time with Yemen. Last time we lost 2-1. I guess this time around it is important that we turn the tables.

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