AGENCIES
GUWAHATI
India midfielder Halicharan Narzary has urged the sports loving fans of Guwahati to come over and cheer for the national team on June 7 when India take on Laos in the play-offs for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 UAE Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, Assam.
“Guwahati is a sports loving City. The passion for football is unparalleled in this city,” Narzary said. “Come over and cheer for us. Crowd support from the stands adds to our motivation,” he added.
Later speaking to www.the-aiff.com, Narzary said: “I am confident that the fans will turn up for the match. The passion here in this part of the country for football is seen to be believed.”
After registering a solitary goal win over Laos in the first-leg many may dub India as favourites to win the tie. But Narzary feels otherwise. “There is no room for complacency,” he said at a media interaction prior to India’s practice session at the Stadium on Sunday.
“Laos are a good team and they tested us in the first leg of the tie. They have pace in attack and are relentless runners,” he stated. “We have to be at the top of our game if we have to defeat them.”
Although India dominated the first leg of the tie and fostered numerous goal scoring chances the ‘Men in Blue’ could only lodge one on the scoreboard. “We should have won the first leg by a much larger goal margin. We attacked a lot but had nothing to flaunt for the chances created. But life is all about how you correct your mistakes as you go forward.”
The Indian team had their first practice session on Sunday evening under the lights after their arrival from Vientiane. “We will have to be clinical in attack. We have to perform better as it is our home game if we are to make it count. We have to give our cent percent,” he added.
There’s an influx of youngsters in the new-look Indian side at the moment. “The young players are very hard-working and are determined. As a budding player you need to have the attitude to work hard and these players have them. But we all have a long way to go.”
Narzary credited national coach Stephen Constantine for helping him to become a better player. “The coach gives us a lot of support morally and technically. When you have someone at the helm who has the patience and backs you to the hilt, it boils down to the players to repay him.”
