Press Trust of India
Mumbai, Sept 2: India’s football coach Stephen Constantine anointed Friday towering goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as captain for Saturday’s international friendly game against higher-ranked Puerto Rico at the suburban Andheri Sports Complex ground here.
The elevation of Gurpreet, the only Indian playing professional football in Europe with Stabaek FC in Norway, in place of regular leader and ace striker Sunil Chhetri, means senior custodian Subrata Paul, who recently won the Arjuna Award, would have to sit out.
The game against the CONCACAF rivals gives a chance to the national side seek to climb the FIFA ranking. Currently India are 152 as compared to Puerto Rico’s 114th place and this would be the team’s fifth international game this year.
The Puerto Rico squad missed their connecting flight and are to reach only this evening, it was announced, but coach Constantine brushed aside any extra advantage for India due to this late arrival of the opponents.
“They are a good side with many good players. Yeah, one may mention about their landing timing in Mumbai but you cannot take away their quality. Can you? Puerto Rico are one of the best movers in the FIFA Rankings. They are a very organised side,” Constantine told reporters.
“They love to keep the ball and play it around. They are technically very good. Once they are around the box they are very dangerous,” added the Indian coach.
Constantine stated that his aim is to prepare a pool of players who will be the fulcrum of the national side for the next 6-7 years. “There are 13 guys who are below 23. So they are the key players for India in the near future. I am working with them constantly trying to improve their game,” he added.
The good news for the Indian team is that Sunil Chhetri, who was nursing a hammy niggle has recovered fully for the game. The defence will be manned by the sturdy Sandesh Jinghan and Arnab Mondal on the flanks with Narayan Das and Rino Anto being the central defenders.
