Myanmar favourites: Constantine

Yangon, March 26 

The Indian men’s football team’s head coach Stephen Constantine today said that Myanmar would start as favourites when the two teams meet in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers here on Tuesday.

Constantine said the Myanmar have been together for some time and the support from the home crowd will give them the advantage. Moreover, Myanmar had beaten India 1-0 when the two teams met last.

“Myanmar are definitely the favourites. Playing at home is always an advantage for any team. They have been together for some time and the familiarity with each other is so much beneficial when you take the field. They certainly have the advantage,” Constantine said.

Asked about Myanmar’s biggest strength, he said, “They work very hard and love to press. When you combine the two with the ability they have and add the crowd and atmosphere to it, the combination is just deadly.”

Asked about the perception of Myanmar being the bogey team for India, he said, “History will show that the same players are not always playing. The situations are always different and both teams would be playing after a long gap. I feel the circumstances are always different.”

“But at the same time, I cannot deny history. But we can’t bring it back. Yesterday will always stay yesterday and at the same time, today is another day. On our day we can beat anybody. We hope to have a very good day and hope they have a very bad day. To beat them, we have to play very, very well and hope that they don’t play very, very well,” said the Englishman.

Prior to the international friendly against Cambodia on March 22 which India won 3-2, Constantine had said that some of his players had niggles. “Considering the last 18 months, we are in a good place at the moment. Nothing is too serious and the players are ready,” he added. — PTI

Bengal beat Goa to win Santosh Trophy for 32nd time 

bambolim (goa): West Bengal lifted the Santosh Trophy for the 32nd time after Manvir Singh struck in the 119th minute for a 1-0 win over Goa here today. After playing out a goalless 90 minutes, Manvir finally came good in the dying moments of extra time to leave the home crowd shocked. Entering the title clash on the back of some impressive outings, Manvir was kept quite for a major part of the match but, with barely seconds to go for the final whistle, he found the target with a stunning left-footer. — PTI