Tomorrow, Tuesday at Goa's Fatorda Stadium, the Indian football team is going to face a do-or-die situation. If they fail to beat Singapore, Sunil Chhetri and his team's hopes of playing in next year's Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia will be completely dashed.
India, with just two points from 3 matches, sits third in the league table. Only the group topper will qualify for the main round of the Asian Cup. Hong Kong leads with 7 points from 3 matches. For India to reach the top spot, they must win all their remaining three matches and also hope that Hong Kong doesn't earn more than 4 additional points.
Without thinking about all these calculations, India's coach Khalid is now focused only on beating Singapore. Just a few days ago, India managed a 1–1 draw against Singapore on their home ground after nearly losing. However, in that match, even after Sandesh Jhingan was sent off with a red card after halftime, Anwar-Rahul Bheke fought with 10 men for the rest of the match. This is a positive aspect for the team.
Since Sandesh cannot play in this match, Khalid has called up experienced defender Subhashis Basu. The understanding between Subhashis and Liston on the left side helped Mohun Bagan score many goals last season. Khalid also wants to utilize this understanding in the Singapore match. During the three-day preparation in Goa, Khalid is fine-tuning that very understanding.
