Photo courtesy: AIFF Media
While many would dub India’s clash against Iran as tedious midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh identifies the September 8 clash as a perfect platform to test his mettle and give his opponents a run for the money.
Speaking at a Media Interaction at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium prior to India’s practice session on Sunday (September 6), Lyngdoh asserted: “As a player you crave for matches like this. You crave for matches against the best teams.”
“It is natural. You want to test yourself against the very best. Tell me who doesn’t want to play Argentina?”
For the record, Iran are the strongest team in Asia ranked at 40 in the FIFA World Ranking.
“Moreover, this also gives us an opportunity to give our opponents a hard fight,” he added.
“In football anyone can win, anyone can lose. We have a plan and we will follow that. We will give it our best shot and hope for a positive result,” Lyngdoh stated.
“Coach (Stephen Constantine) has been motivating us to give it our best shot and that has installed in us a mentality. We are raring to go.”
Furthermore, Lyngdoh dubbed the recently bought GPS systems as a “huge bonus”.
“We have been working very hard recently and with the innovative GPS System implemented, we have been able to identify and hone our fitness level,” he declared. “Against Iran, obviously we have to work hard. But, we are ready for that.”
The two teams head into Tuesday’s clash with contrasting results from their last international matches. While India had a goalless stalemate against Nepal, Iran registered a convincing 6-0 win over Guam.
“We are still on track for our qualification if we get results our way. But we are focused on the game. Iran are a good side and we have to be on our level best if we have to get points out of them.”
(Report & Photo courtesy AIFF Media)