KOLKATA: There is a saying in Croatia - Prvo skoci pa reci: 'hop'! - that can loosely be translated as: First leap, then say 'jump'.
India, under Igor Stimac, has made the leap - by holding Asian champions Qatar in their own backyard and raising expectations in the ongoing World Cup qualifiers. It's time for the former Croatian World Cupper to tell his players to 'jump' at the opportunity of marking a new beginning as they host Bangladesh in their next match at the
Salt Lake Stadium
on Tuesday.
By Stimac's own admission, the odds-defying yet awe-inspiring goalless draw at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium last month has raised a sense of the occasion, scarcely seen in Indian football, and the Bangladesh match represents just a perfect opportunity for the hosts to ensure that the momentum is not lost in the post-Doha hype and hoopla.
"In the first two games we were not favourites. But now the whole pressure is on us. Expectations and excitements around this match are only because of our fightback against Qatar. We have somehow waken up everyone with our recent performances. Everyone is now aware that on our day, we can play against the best. This is why it's imperative that we win this game against Bangladesh so that we have a chance to keep dreaming," Stimac said during his pre-match interaction with the newspersons at a city hotel on Monday.
Sunil Chhetri - the formidable constant in the team's transition from Stephen Constantine's counter-attacking side to Stimac's young, more buoyant and attacking India - revealed that they had a plan of uploading a few videos on social media platforms, urging the fans to throng the stadium and act as the 12th man. That plan was quickly shelved on learning that all tickets for Tuesday's match - marking the national team's return to the city the first time in eight years - have already been sold out, bringing to the fore how a new-found aspiration now co-exists with the team's new-found confidence in overcoming the odds.
Against this backdrop, Bangladesh are planning to poop the hosts' party. As their captain
Jamal Bhuyan
pointed out: "India are favourites and pressure is on them. We are looking to break India's hearts tomorrow. I am going to tell my boys to go there and give their best in front of such a massive crowd," the Copenhagen-born Bangladesh midfielder said.
Interestingly, Bangladesh are also entering the contest on the back of a creditable performance against the same Asian champions and despite losing that match 0-2, their British coach Jamie Day took heart from the team's fighting spirit.
"Qatar had two shots on target and scored. We had five shots on target but could not score. We have to keep creating chances. We have to keep scoring goals. This is basic," he said.
With Bangladesh nurturing hopes of upsetting the Big Brother, India are aware that they have a job on hand. On the one hand, they will seek their first win in three qualifiers and, on the other hand, Stimac will be forced to rejig his defence following
Sandesh Jhingan
's long injury lay-off. Anas Edathodike - who reversed his decision to hand up his India boots following a call from Stimac - is likely to pair up with Adil Khan but it remains to be seen if
Rahul Bheke
- who had a stellar performance in Doha but recovered from a recent groin injury - gets a start.
Bangladesh coach maintained that he's yet to decide on his XI, but it's likely that the visitors would keep a tight leash on Chhetri with Day pointing out that "if you keep space for big players, they will punish you."
Chhetri, however, relished the challenge.
"I'll be very happy if they mark me, because it will give space for the likes of Manvir Singh,
Udanta Singh
and Ashique (Kuruniyan) to prove what they are capable of doing," the 35-year-old striker said.
Stimac insisted that there's no question of "underestimating" the opponents, but Chhetri and Co. are ready for a jump-start in their World Cup qualifiers to prove that this is a new India - dreaming and daring.