World Cup qualifier: India start as favourites against Guam

Hagatna Guam In keeping with coach Stephen Constantines new rotational captaincy policy prolific striker Sunil Chhetri has been handed the armband as India aim for full points against a motivated Guam in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers here tomorrowIndias national football team take part in a training session at a beach in Guam PicPTIWhile India went down 12 after a spirited fight to higherranked Oman in their previous preliminary joint qualification Guam created history with an upset solitary goal win over TurkmenistanThe Blue Tigers though start as favourites despite the fact that hosts Guam come into the match on the back of a win against TurkmenistanIndia will draw inspiration from the fact that they defeated Guam 40 in their previous match besides counting the positives from their narrow defeat to Oman at BangaloreDebutants galoreThat Constantine has fielded 13 debutants in the last three matches is a well known stat in Guam India gave plenty of hope in their last outing and will be looking to take some aspects of their style of play moving forward from the game at the Kanteerva Stadium As far as the team combination is concerned Constantine is unlikely to tinker with the lineupChhetri and Robin Singh will lead the attack Chhetri made a statement by scoring a gem of a goal against Oman and the Bengaluru FC skipper will look to add to his tally against the Guam defense Chhetris importance can be gauged from the fact that he has scored all three goals that India have scored in the World Cup qualifiers till nowSunil ChhetriJackichand Singh is expected to be given another start on the wing and CK Vineeth despite a nonetooimpressive game against Oman could be on the other side of the flank Jackichands Royal Wahingdoh teammate Seityasen Singh may also be introduced on the right sideCunliffe key for GuamThe midfield combo of Sehnaj Singh and Eugeneson Lyngdoh will have a lot riding on them as well In defense Arnab Mondal and Dhanachandra Singh are expected to hold fort as central defenders while Lalchhaummawia Fanai will regain his leftback slot Subrata Paul who had an excellent outing against Oman will man the postThe Guam team will looking upto Shane Malcom upfront and he is likely to pair up with John Matkin Operating in the hole behind them will be Ian Mariano Jason Cunliffe an attacking midfielder with 17 goals to his name in 35 appearances will be one of the key players for the hosts Brandon McDonald and De La Garza will be the centrebacks In goal Doug Herrick will be crucial to his side as it was his showing against Turkmenistan that helped fetch the narrow winThough India are ranked above Guam in FIFA rankings Constantine isnt willing to read much into the disparity We are not in a position to look at the FIFA rankings Every team have their plus and minuses Guam having won their last match against Turkmenistan are going to be encouraged stay motivated and be ready to playConstantine saidSpeaking about his opponents the Englishman said They have several of their players playing in the USA Obviously they have the edge of having two home back to back home games and they are going to maximise it as much as possible as everyone would But we are here to win the game Whoever the opponent may be we go to the field with a positive mind frame