Kolkata: Two matches is a small sample size but under Khalid Jamil 2.0, India have showed that they can hurt on the break. Uruguay have taken note. “If you give them time and space, they can do damage,” said interim head coach Diego Forlan on Monday.
India have wide players who are fast (here’s looking at you, Ashique Kuruniyan, Akash Mishra and Abhishek Singh Tekcham). And Ryan Williams who can make their deliveries count. With his technique and runs from midfield, Williams has been like a shower that breaks a summer’s spell.
Williams scored against Panama after India went short and then long thanks to left-back Mishra’s right foot and nearly did, twice, against Brazil. His understanding with the always industrious Manvir Singh has been a positive from these friendlies against teams from a much higher plane. By the end of the week, a new season of the Indian Super League (ISL) will begin and Manvir and Williams will have different roles at their clubs, but that is a story for another day. On Tuesday, Manvir is likely to be No.9 to Williams No.10.
Against Panama and Brazil, India did more than hoof the ball up the park. Lalengmawia Ralte and Anirudh Thapa have been composed in midfield and Sahal Abdul Samad pulled off a nutmeg that went viral. Known for his defensive nous, Jamil has shown that at home, even against top-50 teams, India will try to do more than batten down hatches.
“We would like to finish on a good note,” said Jamil, 49, ahead of the final game in this international window. It is against a team ranked 20th in the world, 118 places above India who are 138. So, no pressure.
Jamil again spoke of the need to weed out errors and not lose concentration. Easier said than done when the gap is this huge but then, Rwanda beat Cape Verde. “The difference between the best and the weak is one goal. Things can change in a second in football,” said Forlan, 47.
Jamil has rotated players and made 11 changes against Brazil. On Tuesday, the number of substitutes allowed will be eight. And yet the game against Uruguay, who have not played since September 28, will have India doing what they are not used to: play two quality teams in the gap of three days.
“This is what the game demand and we need to be ready,” said Mishra, one of the nine players to have started both games. By pointing out that no one wanted to skip training on Sunday after playing Brazil the night before, Jamil said they were ready. If India get used to this, it will be another reason for the players to look back fondly to an international window that has been like no other.
Uruguay may have fallen off their perch but from Asia, only Japan are ranked above them. “Not too long ago, we had captains at Real Madrid and Barcelona,” said Forlan referring to Federico Valverde and Ronald Araujo. Valverde is not here because of injury; Araujo is but has moved to Liverpool on loan.
“Darwin (Nunez) is a young player who is very important in this group and Jose Maria Jimenez has played for many years at Atletico Madrid.” A centre-back, Jimenez is on loan to Deportivo La Coruna. Nunez scored a brace in the 4-1 win against South Korea, Uruguay’s last match before coming to India.
There are other players in Europe’s top leagues such as midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting CP’s Rodrigo Zalazar and Maximiliano Araujo, Facundo Pellistri of Panathinaikos and Lucas Torreira who is with Galatasaray.
Forlan’s grandfather Juan Carlos Corazzo was a coach. “That puts my mother in a special position, seeing her father and now son coach Uruguay,” he said. Father Pablo Forlan has also been a coach as is his brother. Three generations have represented Uruguay. So much of football in the family, over 500 club games in a career in England, Spain, Japan, India and Hong Kong and 112 internationals including three World Cup finals has taught him to temper reactions, he said. “You are not the best when you win and not the worst when you lose.”
After group stage exits from the last two World Cup finals, it is the kind of perspective that can help Uruguay heal.