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Ahead of Nepal’s clash against India in an International Friendly on June 6, 2017 at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai, the Nepal’s Head Coach Koji Gyotoku has spared no room to mince words on India’s current FIFA Ranking.
The Indian National Team in a historic moment for Indian Football found itself ranked 100 in the latest FIFA Rankings released on June 1, 2017, achieving their third best rank of all time.
However, according to Head Coach of Nepal, the FIFA Rankings will be of little significance once the Teams take to the pitch. “Despite India’s rank in the FIFA ladder, we (Nepal) will play for a win and their (India’s) ranking does not intimidate us”, claimed Koji Gyotoku speaking at the Official Pre-Match Press Conference.
“Infact we are looking to give it our best on the pitch and stun the hosts. At the same time, we respect our opponents and give them due credit for their rise (in the FIFA Rankings), but we will play for nothing less than a win”
Current Head Coach Stephen Constantine’s tenure had begun with a 2-0 win over Nepal on aggregate in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers preliminary round way back when the English coach took over in early 2015. Since then India were held to a 0-0 draw against their neighbours in a Friendly Match in August 2015 in Pune and recently Constantine’s men had defeated Nepal 4-1 in the SAFF Suzuki Championship which India eventually won.
Acknowledging India’s improvement, Koji said, “The Indian Players have improved in the last two years under (Stephen) Constantine and tomorrow’s match will be very difficult for us, but we will play to win.”
Meanwhile, Nepal’s skipper Biraj Maharjan who was sitting besides the Head Coach in the Official Pre-Match Press Conference said, “India has improved a lot and we are ardent watchers of Indian Football as well to learn something from them (the Indian Team). We can learn many things from India.”
“We have always respected India as opponents and it will be a test of our credentials tomorrow. We hope to give India a tough fight.”
“History matters little to us. It teaches us that we have to be wary of our Indian opponents, but once the team takes to the pitch what will matter is football,” Biraj informed.
