It’s only a friendly game for the world but not us: Stephen Constantine

by Chittu Shetty October 10, 2018

Before the Indian Team leaves to play their first-ever International match on the Chinese Soil, Coach Stephen Constantine, during the media interaction session in the Capital City, mentioned that “It’s only a friendly game for the world but not us.”

“When you are playing for India, you have to take it seriously irrespective of whatever game you play. You are representing 1.4 billion people out there and I can’t tell you how important the game is for us.”

“Friendly or no-friendly, it’s the India National Team. It’s only a friendly game for the world but not us. We will go all out. These boys have to earn their position in the team for the Asian Cup and they have to prove their worth on the pitch.”

“We are not going there to lose. Yes, it’s going to be very difficult but our objective is always is to win when we step on the pitch. If we don’t win, we’ll take the positives from the game and move on”, Constantine added.

Meanwhile, due to some unavoidable circumstances, Balwant Singh won’t be available for selection. “Balwant had to drop out because of his passport which will expire in less than 6 months. He has done pretty well recently.  Unfortunately, we won’t have him in China and we have to deal with it”, Constantine informed.

He further added: “If something happens and scenario changes overnight like this (referring the situation with Balwant Singh), you have to switch your plans. I hope, on the match day, I can put in my best eleven boys on the pitch.”

On being asked how does he rate the Red Dragons as the opponents, the Coach mentioned, “China is a very good side. They like to play an attacking brand of football with high-pressing. It’s going to be a very difficult game but these are the games that we need to play. We have to play more games under pressure.”

Also Read: Chhetri, Jeje, Gurpreet back in squad as team for China friendly announce

Also Read: How young is ISL’s youngest Goal scorer? 

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