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Indian National Team: Thailand Is A Strong Team - Mehrajuddin Wadoo
The Kashmiri has full of respect for Thailand....
04-Sep-2010 5:00:00 AM
By Amoy Ghoshal
The Indian national team is all set to take on Thailand at the Yamaha Stadium in Bangkok later this evening (16:30 IST).
This will be India’s first international match since the Nehru Cup final in August 2009 and first away international since January 2009 when they lost 2-1 against Hong Kong.
Thailand may not be appearing in the 2011 Asian Cup but are ranked 34 places above India in the FIFA Rankings and also placed 16th in Asia.
India’s Mehrajuddin Wadoo spoke to Goal.com ahead of the match and talked about his respect for the Thais.
Speaking to Goal.com he said, “I have never played against them before but I am aware that they are a very good team. They are ranked 104th in the world so they are definitely a strong side.”
The Kashmiri also played down suggestions that the height advantage will help India in the two games.
They Are Strong
“They don’t have too many tall players but that doesn’t make them any weaker because their style is very different. Their squad is full of talent and they also have a very good English coach (Bryan Robson).”
Mehraj admits that there is pressure on the Indian team to get a good result in their first international match since August 2009 but the East Bengal player stated that the players won’t be affected by it when they got on to the pitch.
“For a professional footballer there is always pressure and since we are playing for the country there has to be pressure.
We Can Handle Pressure
“But all we can do is work hard and give our best on the pitch and hope for a good result,” he concluded.
This will be India’s first international match since the Nehru Cup final in August 2009 and first away international since January 2009 when they lost 2-1 against Hong Kong.
Thailand may not be appearing in the 2011 Asian Cup but are ranked 34 places above India in the FIFA Rankings and also placed 16th in Asia.
India’s Mehrajuddin Wadoo spoke to Goal.com ahead of the match and talked about his respect for the Thais.
Speaking to Goal.com he said, “I have never played against them before but I am aware that they are a very good team. They are ranked 104th in the world so they are definitely a strong side.”
The Kashmiri also played down suggestions that the height advantage will help India in the two games.
They Are Strong
“They don’t have too many tall players but that doesn’t make them any weaker because their style is very different. Their squad is full of talent and they also have a very good English coach (Bryan Robson).”
Mehraj admits that there is pressure on the Indian team to get a good result in their first international match since August 2009 but the East Bengal player stated that the players won’t be affected by it when they got on to the pitch.
“For a professional footballer there is always pressure and since we are playing for the country there has to be pressure.
We Can Handle Pressure
“But all we can do is work hard and give our best on the pitch and hope for a good result,” he concluded.
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