Khalid Jamil’s bolder India faces Uruguay at Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday. After holding Panama and losing to Brazil, India looks to improve against the 20th-ranked side. Coach Jamil warned his players not to concede early. Diego Forlan said, “The most important thing is to give your best.”
Image credit: Indian Football
KOLKATA: In the past few days, Diego Forlan and his Uruguay team have been staying here like passive guests, happily blending into the background and letting Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil enjoy the public eye. With the departure of their fellow South American rivals, the spotlight is back on La Celeste. So is India’s final act of their extraordinary brush with three World Cup teams in this Fifa international window. Being a football team in transition comes with its own set of challenges. In holding Panama 1-1 and even in losing 0-4 to Brazil, Khalid Jamil’s team has shown glimpses of promise. Teams under Jamil are always known for being defensively strong; sitting deep in numbers is a celebrated way of making life difficult for the opponents. A paradigm shift is now noticeable in the system. India look bolder, more ambitious. “It’s not about me and all credit goes to players,” the former India midfielder told TOI during the pre-match news conference on Monday, the eve of their clash with Uruguay at Salt Lake Stadium. Jamil, however, has warned his players of not repeating the mistakes they had committed against Brazil. “Don’t concede early,” was his advice. Uruguay have stars like Darwin Nunez, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ronald Araujo and Jose Maria in their squad with players equipped with elite mentality. Ranked 20th in the world, they are expected to come hard at the home team with their typical aggression and physicality.
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Forlan, Golden Ball winner of the 2010 World Cup and an icon in Uruguayan football, also is tasked with rebuilding a team whose World Cup campaigned collapsed into a player revolt against his predecessor Marcelo Bielsa. “I want my players to understand that I’m going to be the same if they win and I’m going to be the same if they lose. But the most important thing is to give your best,” Forlan said in replying to a question from the TOI. “When you win, you’re not the best and when you lose you’re not the worst,” he said.