New Delhi, July 27 (IANS) India's football coach Armando Colaco admitted Wednesday that it would tough for his boys to neutralise the three-goal deficit against United Arab Emirates (UAE) here Thursday in the return leg of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Colaco wants his boys to go all out as India have to win by a margin of four goals at the Ambedkar Stadium, their favourite international venue, to advance to the second stage.
The coach, however, feared that in their attempt to go all out the hosts may suffer in the counter-attack.
"After the 0-3 loss (in Abu Dhabi), it is a mountain to climb for us. It will be very difficult for us to advance to the next stage," Colaco said.
"UAE are a tough side with strong and skillful players. Their striker Ismail Al Hammadi and midfielder Abdulla Hussain Al Hammadi are classic players. Two defenders, Ali Ahmed Al Wahebi and Yousef Jaber Al Hammadi, provide thrust to attack," he said.
Colaco warned his boys to play a compact game and not to give much room to the UAE players.
"If we go for an all-out attack, we may concede goals and we cannot do that at any cost. So our defence will have to be compact. We cannot give their frontmen space. We will put more people upfront but at the same time we will have to ensure that we do not conceded goal," he said.
The Goan said that his boys are eager to give their best.
"But we are up for the challenge and I have told my players to give their best, just go out and enjoy their game. The plus point from the first match was that we played really well for 75 minutes and conceded just one goal with nine men."
Colaco said it rain could be problem for his boys as it would make life difficult for the players to play the passing game.
"Rain could be a problem for us as it will not allow us to keep the ball for long. But we have Plan B. We have under-23 players and I will tell them to kick the ball and run," he said.
Colaco hoped that Ambedkar Stadium would prove lucky for Indians once again. India have won two Nehru Cup titles (2007, 2009) and the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup at the venue.
"All the players love Ambedkar Stadium because of the crowd support. It has been a lucky ground. I hope a big crowd will turn up tomorrow," he said.
UAE coach Srecko Katanec was happy that his team enters the match with a 3-0 win at home but warned his boys not to take India lightly despite their
"India would be a tough team at home. They can be dangerous. In football we need to respect the opponents. We respect the Indian team and players," the coach said.
"But we had the advantage after our 3-0 win and we are confident that we will do well tomorrow also," he added.
Katanec also justified red cards to Indian goalkeeper Subrata Paul and defender Debabrata Roy by Qatari referee.
"Both the red cards are justified. We don't have television near us when the incidents happen. But you come to know afterwards in the television footage. Rules are rules. If you committed a foul when you are the last man then it was a red card. If a goalkeeper kicked an opponent it will be a red card. After a match every coach will say such red cards were not justified but after seeing the television footage he may say otherwise," he said.