Will Stephen Constantine's men be able to record at least a point from the Preliminary Joint Qualifiers of the 2018 FIFA World Cup? That remains the question on everybody's mind. Possible, even Constantine has no answer to that, apart from remaining positive.
The Indian national football team, under Constantine, go head-to-head in their sixth World Cup qualifier against Guam at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on Thursday evening, and a first win is all everything that the British coach and the players are looking for.
India are currently without any point from Group D of the AFC qualifiers after losing all the previous five games against Oman (two legs), Guam, Turkmenistan, and Iran this year. They might have already been eliminated from getting a dream berth in a FIFA World Cup, but the hopes of making it to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifying round play-off is still on.
Constantine's side have scored just three goals in the last five games, and whether this tally could increase after today's game remains hard to say.
India faced Guam in June earlier this year in the island nation and Constantine's side were handed a 2-1 defeat. However, will there be a change of luck this time around? "Guam are the favourites. They have seven points. They are above us in the FIFA Rankings. So they are the favourites," Constantine said ahead of the game.
"But at the end of the day it's what you do on the pitch which determines the result," the Brit added.
Speaking of the defeat against Guam in the last leg, the ex-Rwanda coach said: "In any case, we didn't play particularly well in which has been the case in all of our away games so far. Four games later, we are a better side that we were then.
"I have respect for Guam and their coach as they do. But we need the points to give ourselves the chance of making the [Asian Cup] Playoffs."
Guam coach Gary White meanwhile has his eyes on a win on the day and nothing else. "They [India] cannot qualify but we can. We have to ensure that our motivations and passion beats theirs.
"One team [Guam] can qualify for the World Cup while the other [India] wants to prove. This game will be a lot different to the game in [first leg] Guam," White stated to Goal.
Possible starting XI
India: Gurpreet; Arnab, Jhingan, Khongjee, Das; Eugeneson, Robin, Francis, Borges; Chhetri, Jeje.
Guam: Herrick; A. Lee, Romero, Grimes, J. Lee, McDonald; Cunliffe, Guy, Nicklaw; Matkin, Malcolm.
Where to watch live
Get the report and final score HERE
India vs Guam kicks off at 7pm IST from the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore, on Thursday, 11 November, 2015.
Football fans in India can catch the game on Sony Kix, with with an online live streaming option on Livsports. Live scores and updates of the game will provided on the official AIFF twitter handle.
