Below-par India look to raise the level against Nepal in second international friendly

Determined
Blue
Tigers
look
forward
to
‘put
in
a
better
performance’

Worse,
Indian
football
team
is
not
at
all
happy
with
the
training
facilities
provided
by
the
host
country.
At
105,
India
are
ranked
much
above
the
171st
placed
Nepal
in
the
FIFA
rankings,
but
still
then
the
Sunil
Chhetri-led
side
produced
a
below-par
show
in
the
first
match
to
be
held
to
a
1-1
draw
on
Thursday.

In
the
last
match,
substitute
Anirudh
Thapa
came
in
as
saviour
for
the
visitors
and
found
the
equaliser
in
the
60th
minute
after
Nepal
grabbed
the
lead
through
Anjan
Bista
in
the
36th
minute.
But
come
Sunday,
India
will
have
to
raise
their
game
by
leaps
and
bounds
to
outwit
a
determined
Nepal,
who
will
brimming
with
confidence
following
the
last
match
result.

The
friendlies
are
being
organised
as
part
of
preparations
for
next
month’s
SAFF
Championships
in
Maldives.
The
five-team
SAFF
Championships
will
be
held
from
October
3
to
October
13
at
the
National
Stadium
in
Male.
Besides
India,
the
other
participating
teams
are
Bangladesh,
Sri
Lanka,
hosts
Maldives
and
Nepal.

India
head
coach
Igor
Stimac
was
not
happy
with
the
performance
but
hoped
for
a
better
show
from
his
wards
on
Sunday.

“The
mood
is
positive
and
our
boys
are
aware
that
they
can
do
much
better.
Of
course,
we
are
still
short
with
the
energy
level
because
we
are
just
at
the
end
of
the
second
week
of
preparation,
and
the
legs
are
still
heavy.
But,
they
are
looking
forward
to
put
in
a
better
performance,”
he
said.

“We
are
going
to
change
a
few
things,
and
see
if
that
can
help
us
in
terms
of
passing
with
more
confidence,
and
getting
forward
easier.”

India
custodian
Gurpreet
Singh
Sandhu
too
feels
that
the
team
needs
to
raise
its
bar
on
Sunday
to
come
out
on
the
positive
side
of
the
result.
“The
last
game
was
a
tough
one
and
Nepal
were
very
organised.
We
had
moments
where
we
could
have
done
better
as
a
team,
and
there
were
moments
where
we
did
get
better.

“We
need
to
make
sure
that
we
have
a
strong
mentality
going
into
the
second
game.
We
need
to
make
sure
that
we
use
it
to
prepare
for
the
SAFF
Championship
in
good
order,”
he
said.

Thapa,
who
suffered
an
injury
scare
in
his
ankle
in
the
last
match,
is
fit
to
play
on
Sunday.
“I
am
fine
now,”
assured
Thapa.

“I
have
been
working
on
my
short
sprints,
especially
my
start.
That
allowed
me
to
connect
the
ball
ahead
of
my
marker,
and
even
goalkeeper
Kiran-bhai
(Kiran
Limbu),”
he
explains.

“We
were
much
better
in
the
second
half
in
the
first
match
and
wished
the
match
could
have
continued
for
some
more
time
for
us
to
find
the
winner,”
Thapa
concluded.