World Cup Qualifiers: Guam 2-1 India - Five talking points

The Indian National Team lost their second World Cup qualifier in a row

India played their second World Cup qualifying match against Guam, but the result was identical to the one five days ago when they lost to Oman at home. Indian coach Stephen Constantine selected the exact same line-up he had chosen for the Oman match.

Guam were the better team in the first half and they did not allow India to have a shot on target util the 60th minute. Sunil Chhetri scored again for the Blue Tigers but it was nothing more than a consolation as Guam won the game 2-1.

Here are the five talking points from the game:

Experience counts

The Guam squad have been playing together for quite some time now and looked like a well-drilled unit. The Indian midfield and defence had only 35 caps combined – the same as Guam captain Jason Cunliffe alone. India looked out of sorts throughout the game and eventually ended up playing long balls to Robin Singh.

Guam pressed India well the entire match to the point where their goalkeeper had almost nothing to do. He did not have a save to make in the first hour of the game.

Eventually, the Indians started taking shots from a distance, as they were not able to build up play.

Guam were in better shape

Like the Oman game, the Indian team did not look as good as their opponents in terms of fitness. Guam hassled them off the ball, pressed them till they played long and made sure they recovered the ball as quickly as possible. Towards the end, when India were chasing the game, it didn’t look like they had anything left in the tank.

A congested ISL schedule and an I-League campaign which saw half the season played in the middle of summer meant that the players were tired after having played non-stop since October. With a break till September, the players can recover their fitness levels and be ready to give the qualifiers one more go.

India need the team to gel together soon

In football, the teams that are successful have usually played together for a long period of time. Just look at the World Cup winning teams of Italy, Spain and Germany. The players in this team have been playing together for years.

They need to play more games together in order to build something that can last India at least five years. Now, with a break of almost two months, Constantine must try to play a couple of friendlies in between against decent opposition so that the players get time to get used to the playing style.

India need to select a particular system to play

In his post-match press conference after the Oman game, Stephen Constantine said that he had not told the players to play “long balls”. But for a second game running that is exactly the kind of football India played.

India need to find a system of play that suits them. In the forward line, India just have Robin Singh who can act as a target man. In case of an injury to him, there is no one India can turn to. India have to try to find a particular way to play and stick with it.

Guam’s win against Turkmenistan was no fluke

When Guam won against Turkmenistan on the 11th of June, no one really believed they could beat India and keep the run going. They did just that and will remain at the top of Group D till September.

A World Cup berth might be a step too far for the island country, but they have a good chance of qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup.