Kolkata: Two matches is a small sample size but under Khalid Jamil 2.0, India have showed that they can hurt on the break.
“If you give them time and space, they can do damage,” said interim head coach Diego Forlan on Monday. Uruguay have taken note.
On Tuesday, Manvir is likely to be No.9 to Williams No.10. 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.
Things can change in a second in football,” said Forlan, 47. Jamil has rotated players and made 11 changes against Brazil. 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.
Easier said than done when the gap is this huge but then, Rwanda beat Cape Verde. “This is what the game demand and we need to be ready,” said Mishra, one of the nine players to have started both games. Jamil again spoke of the need to weed out errors and not lose concentration. “The difference between the best and the weak is one goal. 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.
On Tuesday, the number of substitutes allowed will be eight. By pointing out that no one wanted to skip training on Sunday after playing Brazil the night before, Jamil said they were ready.
It is against a team ranked 20th in the world, 118 places above India who are 138. Nunez scored a brace in the 4-1 win against South Korea, Uruguay’s last match before coming to India. 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.
“We would like to finish on a good note,” said Jamil, 49, ahead of the final game in this international window. “That puts my mother in a special position, seeing her father and now son coach Uruguay,” he said. “You are not the best when you win and not the worst when you lose.”
So, no pressure. “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. Forlan’s grandfather Juan Carlos Corazzo was a coach. Father Pablo Forlan has also been a coach as is his brother. Three generations have represented Uruguay.
