With a 'home' victory in the bag, Turkmenistan start as favourites when they play India in the 'away' leg of the pre-Olympic football match in Goa on Sunday.
"We have a decisive 0-2 advantage. If we had to play an away match with just a 1-0 win at home, we would have been in a spot of bother," Turkmenistan team coach Rovshan Muhadov told newspersons in Delhi on Wednesday.
India are in a difficult position, having lost their away match 0-2 in Ashkabad on April 5. They have to win by at least a 3-0 margin to earn the right to play Malaysia in the second round of the under-23 tournament.
Making clear his intentions of going on an all-out attack, Muhadov said, "We will play in the 3-5-2 formation and start aggressively to get a vital away goal."
Having landed in Delhi, the team is practising at the Central secratariat ground before leaving for Goa on Thursday.
Muhadov is hopeful that the two days' practice his team will have in Delhi will help in acclimatising to the heat and humidity of Goa.
He, however, dispelled any fears of hot weather affecting his team's performance. "The climate here is more or less the same as what we are used to, at least in terms of temperature, so we are not very concerned," he said.
Expressing apprehension that crowd support for the home team at Goa may overwhelm his players, Muhadov said, "The team is not used to playing before large crowds and if a large crowd cheers India in Goa it can be a worrying factor."
The coach, however, praised the Indian team.
"I didn't expect the team to be so strong when we played at Ashkabad," he said.
Talking about the Indian players, Muhadov complimented their control, game sense and skills. He said India's defence was well-organised and forwards Ashim Biswas, Alex Ambrose and substitute Ishfaq Ahmed were impressive.
"Indian football has definitely made significant progress during the last one year or so," he asserted.
The Indian under-23 team, led by Satish Bharti, will, however, be woefully short of actual match practice. The team also had just five days' practice before the first leg tie while the Central Asian side has been training since the completion of their National League in February.
Coach Muhadov said his team had played friendly matches with Lokomotiv Moscow, Atlanata club, Lithuania, and an Estonia XI.
Though he was critical about the the food and ground facilities on offer in Delhi, he said the team is building up nicely, especially after making a forgettable debut at the Busan Asian Games last November.
"We beat India at home, after having lost to the same team in Busan."
All 18 players in the squad are professionals and three of them play in the Ukrainian league. They are strikers Guvanchmuhamet Ovekov (Arsenal FC, Kiev), Hasmagomed Amayev (Torpedo FC, Kutaisi) and Nazar Bayaramov (Vorskla FV, Poltava).
Seven of the 18-member squad are from Nisa FC, which finished second in the ten-team Turkmenistan national league. Five are from five-times national league champions Kopetdag FC of Ashkhabad. Muhadov himself is also from this club.
Turkmenistan: Azat Muhadov (capt.), Eldar Aleiv, Hasmagamed Amayev, Yagmyrmyrat Annamyradov, Nazar Bayramov, Shahrat Durduyev, Alik Haydarov, Rasif Kerimov, Vyacheslav Krendelev, Pavel Matus, Chariyar Meredov, Mekan Masyrov, Artyem Nikitenko, Begli Nurmuradov, Guvanchmuhamed Ovekov, Guvanch Rajepow, Muhammet Saparow, Yewgeniy Zemskov.
Coaches: Rovshan Muhadov, Aman Meredov and Aleksandr Klimenko.
UNI
