India vs Guam: Sunil Chhetri And Co. Gear up to Save FIFA World Cup Blushes

Zero upon five, that's India's score in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers so far. Be it the mighty Iran or tiny Guam, Sunil Chhetri and Co. have only losses in their kitty so far. This has pushed India to a dismal 172 in the FIFA rankings. (Sunil Chhetri Asks for Patience After Poor FIFA World Cup Campaign)

The way the All India Football Federation has conveniently chosen to look away from the fact India need good preparatory camps ahead of international matches, hasn't helped matters either. Players have complained about poor scheduling as India's World Cup games clashed with the Indian Super League, run by the federation's commercial partners. (India Slump to Fourth Straight Loss in World Cup Qualifiers)

In this precarious situation, India face Guam in Bengaluru on Thursday. The hopes of progressing to the second round of the qualifiers is already over and if India doesn't take the home advantage then they might not even qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.

Guam might be the tiniest country in the Asian Football Confederation but they clinched two wins so far, against India and Turkmenistan, and have seven points from five matches.

Shocking defeat to Guam

India's loss to Guam in June was the most shocking as it was expected that the Men in Blue would at least defeat Guam, who were in the 180s in the rankings then. Courtesy that win and several other stunning performances, Guam have climbed up to 152 in the ranking.

India footballers are well aware of Guam's good form and are not taking them lightly.

"Guam are on seven points and there's no doubt that they have an edge. They have been together for three years and are now reaping the benefits. They never depend on individual brilliance and stress more on team work," Arnab Mondal, Indian team's central defender, told the-aiff.com.

"We were not up to the mark (in the previous match against Guam). People may speak about the weather, the ground conditions when we played Guam in Guam. But simply put, they were better than us on that day."

In the five matches so far, India have conceded 12 goals while scoring only three, two of which were scored by Chhetri and one by Jeje Lalpekhlua. Clearly, the coordination on the field has not been up to the mark.

Constantine, a helpless national coach

To improve the scenario, national coach Stephen Constantine has time and again asked the AIFF for more preparation time and better scheduling of the Indian football calendar. But the response he got from AIFF president Praful Patel summed the behaviour meted out to the national team.

"Mr Constantine is not the custodian of Indian football. He is the custodian of the Indian national team. Please don't listen to everything that the coach says," Patel said.

Patel may have his opinion, but India captain Chhetri and AIFF's advisor Bhaichung Bhutia both opined that the Indian football calendar was not set in the right way.

"The national team should get proper time to train ahead of international matches. The calendar should be prepared in accordance with the international matches. We are already late in the current season, and as far as World Cup is concerned we are out of the race," Bhutia said.

"From next year, the club tournaments should be scheduled in such a way that they don't clash with international matches."

"Nowhere in the world the clubs play, when the national team is competing somewhere. But in India it's different. We need to have better schedule," Chhetri said, hinting how ISL has hit the country's interest.

Chhetri hit the nail on its head with this statement, but what changes it does on the field and off it are yet to be seen.