Macau game most significant match in our football history: Head Coach Constantine

New Delhi, Oct 2: Indian National football team coach Stephen Constantine has called India's next Asian Cup qualifier against Macau as one of the most vital matches in nation's footballing memoir.

India had beaten Macau 2-0 in the away-leg during their third group league match and will now want to be sure of securing another three points that will keep their ideal record in the qualifiers alive.

The Blue Tigers are at the top of Group A with nine points, having beaten Myanmar 1-0, Kyrgyz Republic 1-0 and Macau 2-0 and need a win against Macau to secure their Asian Cup spot for which they have qualified just thrice and the last time they did was in 2011.

And while talking ahead of the match the head coach claimed that his team should not look for the future possibilities and should just claim the qualifying spot in the very next match itself.

“We have three more games, but the most important game is the one against Macau on October 11. This will be one of the most significant in our history. If we manage to win this game, we will qualify for the Asian Cup, which would be a tremendous achievement for Indian football,” Constantine said.

“The boys know the importance of the game, they know what this could mean for them, Indian football and everybody connected with Indian football. Hopefully, we will get the three points,” he explained.

“It is in our hands and feet. We know the type of football Macau will try and play. Pretty much as they parked the bus, we will have to be patient, continue to do the hard work and try to find something to unlock them.”

“We now have quite a strong core, one guy goes out due to injury, another can come in and there is not too much loss in quality. We are in a better position than we have been for some time,” said the Englishman.

Constantine and his side will welcome Macau in the fourth match-day of the AFC Cup 2019 qualifiers on October 11.