Mumbai: In spite of having beaten them 3-0 in the group encounter, India will start from scratch when they face Kenya in the final of the Intercontinental Cup football tournament at the Mumbai Football Arena, here Sunday.
The hosts for the umpteenth time will depend on the talismanic Sunil Chhetri and a stadium packed to the brim with emotionally-charged fans for inspiration. Chhetri has been in brilliant form in the tournament. He has so far found the back of the net in each of the three games, including a hat-trick against Chinese Taipei and a brace against Kenya. The other goal was against New Zealand which India lost 1-2, after Stephen Constantine had made seven changes to the original squad.
India however, cannot take Kenya, who beat Chinese Taipei 4-0 Friday night, lightly. However, the frontline strikers – Chhetri and Jeje Lalpekhlua – can be lethal for any defence and India will bank on their abilities in front of the opposition goal. They will be supported by an array of decent midfielders like Udanta Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Pranay Halder and Halicharan Narzary.
Kenya coach Sebastian Migne would hope his two main strikers – Ovella Ochieng and Pistone Mutamba – to spoil India’s party.
I firmly believe that a number of players in the present Indian squad have the talent to play abroad. I would like them to do that. The standard will certainly go up then
Stephen Constantine
Constantine is also aware of the threat Kenya can pose. “Look, what we did in the round robin stage is done and dusted. When we go to the next game, you cannot take anything for granted and we will not take anything for granted,” Constantine told reporters here Saturday.
“Kenya showed yesterday (against Chinese Taipei), that they are capable, especially for (set-pieces), and we need to be very careful and we respect them. But we will try to win the game,” he added.
Constantine also informed that India will field their first XI. “We will be at our full strength for this game (final). We have two central defenders who have been outstanding for us – Sandesh (Jhingan) and Anas, so that will help,” he said.
The Englishman also asserted his goals from the tournament have been fulfilled and the final target is to lift the Trophy.
“Yes, obviously the ultimate is to win (the tournament), the second was to qualify for the final and the third one was to get up a group and in the process try and include as many young players as we possibly can,” Constantine pointed out.
“It has been my mantra in India and just about everywhere. I believe in youth, young players. In the last three-and-half-years, we have given 30 international debuts, 15 of those have proved to be descent players and we have an U-23 side coming and 10-11 are in this squad,” he added.