Calcutta: On paper, India are the favourites for Tuesday's 2018 World Cup qualifier against Guam. They are not only well ahead in Fifa rankings but have also beaten them when they last met.
But Bhaichung Bhutia, a warrior of many such battles, has urged the Sunil Chetris to be cautious and not take Guam lightly even though he expressed confidence that India would do well in the match.
"Guam are a good team... Many of their players play in the US.... So you have to say that will be dangerous as opponents on Tuesday. One also has to remember that if they are playing at this level, they have qualified to do so... They have even beat Turkmenistan in their last match... So it will be a difficult game for India," Bhaichung said.
The former India captain was speaking after a training session of the AFC D License coaching course, organised by the Football Players Association of India, at the East Bengal ground on Monday. The course is being conducted by AIFF technical director Scott O'Donell and apart from Bhaichung, other notable participants were Rennedy Singh, Sandip Nandy and Abhijit Mondal.
Citing India's fight against Oman in their last match, Bhaichung said: "India played well against Oman, who are a very good side. In fact, had they not conceded that early goal, things could have been different.
"It's very difficult for young players to recover when you concede a goal in the very first minute of the match. So that setback did harm India's chances to some extent. However, I must say that they recovered well from that psychological disadvantage and fought till the end."
Bhaichung also has faith in national coach Stephen Constantine. "It's a new team... There are a lot of young players in it. So I feel that Stephen must be given time... Whoever is the coach, he can't change things overnight, or say just in a year... He needs time.
"One good thing is that he is giving the youngsters opportunities to prove themselves at the biggest stage. But at the same time, the young players much respond to that and make use of the opportunities. If they fail to do so then all effort comes to nothing," he said.
Moving to different subject, Bhaichung said that the football clubs in the city need to show patience and professionalism to do better.
"Calcutta football needs stability... They need to change with time. They have to be professionals. They can't change 10 players and the coach every year just because they are not getting results. That's not how world football is run," he said.
When asked what he felt of East Bengal's proposed two-coach plan, Bhaichung, who still harbours hopes of retiring formally in a red and gold jersey, said: "You need technical people to run clubs, especially for issues like selecting coaches. It's not right for the club officials to take all decisions on the technical matters. If the coach East Bengal appoints for the CFL is successful, then how will you change him for the I-League?"
Bhaichung also had rich praise for I-League champions Mohun Bagan's Haitian forward Sony Norde. "Sony had the biggest hand in Bagan's I-League success... Yes, the entire team played well, but Sony helped Bagan win many matches single-handedly."
