India one step away from realising Asian Cup dreams

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Bengaluru, October 10: Though India is within striking distance of qualifying for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, the Men in Blue are taking nothing for granted.

As they take on Macau tomorrow (October 11) at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here in their Group A qualifier, a win over the minnows would help them make the Asian Cup cut.

When the two sides met in Macau last month, India had emerged a 2-0 winner and another victory at their fortress would guarantee them a berth to the 2019 AFC Cup to be held in the UAE.

The last time India competed in the continental extravaganza was at the 2011 edition in Doha.

Having missed out on the 2015 edition in Sydney, the Indians are determined to return to the AFC premier event at the earliest.

Currently, India lead the group with maximum nine points after three games and a win over Macau would make the remaining qualifying games inconsequential.

Indian coach Stephen Constantine was pragmatic while talking about the importance of the Macau game and its result.

"A win may qualify us, so it's a big game, I think this is possibly the biggest game in India for many years because of what the result will mean," said the Englishman.

Though India are the only team to maintain a clean slate in the group, Constantine has guarded the Sunil Chhetri-led side against complacency.

"It will be about taking the opportunity when it comes. You can't discount them. I saw them against Kyrgyz Republic and they had two or three opportunities and they only lost 1-0.

"You have to respect them, and I do. They've got one or two players who are quite quick and they can punish you, so if you don't pay attention to your shape and what's going on behind, you could get caught out. And we don't want that to happen.

"We will be ready for them, we know what to expect and we will be patient and look for the opportunity to score," he added.

Midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh agreed with his coach.

"We have nine points from three games, despite this, we aren't over confident. Macau is a good and a compact team," he said.

"We need to break them down as fast as we could to prevent them from building their strength as game progresses," he added.

With Indian junior team currently competing in the FIFA Uner-17 World Cup at home, there is no better opportunity for the seniors team to realise their Asian Cup dream.

The match kicks off at 7pm local time.

It will be shown live on Star Sports and Star Sports HD1 channels.