Midfielder Anirudh Thapa knows that the job on and off the field when the Indian football team travels to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers will be tough and so he is trying his best to concentrate.
India, placed fourth in Group-E with three points from five matches, are out of reckoning for a 2022 World Cup berth but they still have a chance to seal a place for the 2023 Asian Cup. Thapa and his teammates are currently in quarantine at a hotel in New Delhi. They are expected to leave for Qatar on Wednesday after clearing RT-PCR tests for Covid-19.
The team would be in a bio-bubble and train for two weeks before taking on Qatar on June 3. The other matches are on June 7 (against Bangladesh) and June 15 (against Afghanistan).
Thapa, 23, said: “It is very difficult to just sit in one room, you cannot go out. You need to be mentally strong. As a professional, we need to be prepared. It is very important to have a hobby… listening to music, watching a web series or a movie, reading books, everything helps.
“The last few weeks have been very difficult with the pandemic situation. It is disturbing when you get the news that someone close has succumbed to Covid-19. We also have the fear that we might get infected. We are doing everything possible to be safe,” Thapa, who is yet to get his first Covid-19 vaccine, said at a virtual media conference on Tuesday.
Lack of match practice is also an issue. “We have not played any matches in the last two months. It is difficult for us because you can maintain your fitness at home and do everything, but at the back of your mind, you know that you haven’t played a competitive match in a long time.
“We get fitness programmes everyday and we have been following them. World Cup Qualifiers are always big matches. We are representing the country and that is motivation enough,” Thapa said.
The youngster believes coach Igor Stimac is the team’s biggest strength. “Stimac likes possession-based football. He keeps talking with everyone and motivates us. Even if you had a bad training session or a bad match, he never discourages his players.”
