{"id":38329,"date":"2021-09-01T06:15:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T06:15:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38329"},"modified":"2021-09-01T06:15:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T06:15:35","slug":"with-rain-on-the-cards-blue-tigers-upbeat-for-challenging-nepal-friendlies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38329","title":{"rendered":"With rain on the cards, Blue Tigers upbeat for ‘challenging’ Nepal friendlies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IndianBy Nilanjan Datta,<\/strong>
AIFF Media Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

KATHMANDU:<\/strong> \u201cWelcome to Nepal. This is your captain speaking \u2013 O I am sorry \u2013 this is your vice-captain speaking,\u201d the entire team bus burst out in laughter as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu took over the microphone, all in an effort to bring in some humour.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget to wash your hands. Stay safe, train hard, rest well and let\u2019s win this,\u201d he summed it up perfectly. The clapping was spontaneous.<\/p>\n

Other than Sunil Chhetri, Pritam Kotal and Gurpreet himself, none of the boys have been to Nepal ever donning the Senior team colours. The trio was there in 2015 when India qualified from the play-offs to the Russia 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. For Sunil, nevertheless, this is his fourth visit to Nepal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an excellent opportunity for us to improve as a team. Given the current circumstances, it wasn\u2019t easy to get a Friendly game. The Nepal Federation and Government invited us to play, and we thank them for the opportunity and the gesture,\u201d Sunil stated. \u201cNepal are a very tough side, especially when they play against us, and we are aware of the extreme challenge the two matches present us.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been raining, and torrentially so for the last 7 days. Even as dark clouds greeted the Blue Tigers on arrival, the weather forecast and experience of the locals predict that the clouds are to get darker in the next seven days.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Head Coach Igor Stimac smiles. \u201cI just hope that it doesn’t rain heavily,\u201d he said. Coincidentally, the preparatory camp in Kolkata had also witnessed heavy downpours, but not extreme enough to become a concern.<\/p>\n

Early in the morning, the changing colours of the sky prompted the players to recheck the weather forecast. But, the blue sky and the bright sunshine are more like guests during the pandemic, not willing to stay long for much.<\/p>\n

In the team bus, Pritam Kotal sat by the window as his eyes wandered all around, perhaps trying to spot some lost memories. \u201cIt was here that I played my second International match. So, a visit to Nepal will always be special for me,\u201d he smiled. \u201cI missed the preparatory camp in Kolkata but was with my club for the AFC Cup, and the best part is that we got some match practice,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

Someone who trained at the camp in Kolkata all throughout, and grew his intensity with every given day is Sahal Abdul Samad. Very often touted as an \u2018exceptional talent,\u2019 the baby-faced Sahal was seen caressing his boots and getting them ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are my armour,\u201d he points to his pink boots. \u201cWe trained very hard at the camp, and for a reason. This is my first visit to Nepal. In fact, for most of us, this is the first time we are here. It is up to us to make this a memorable one,\u201d he smiles again, as he turns the doting footballer to wipe his boots with utmost care.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nilanjan Datta,AIFF Media Team KATHMANDU: \u201cWelcome to Nepal. This is your captain speaking \u2013 O I am sorry \u2013 this is your vice-captain speaking,\u201d the entire team bus burst out in laughter as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu took over the microphone, all in an effort to bring in some humour. \u201cDon\u2019t forget to wash your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football-football"],"yoast_head":"\nWith rain on the cards, Blue Tigers upbeat for 'challenging' Nepal friendlies - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38329\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With rain on the cards, Blue Tigers upbeat for 'challenging' Nepal friendlies - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Nilanjan Datta,AIFF Media Team KATHMANDU: \u201cWelcome to Nepal. This is your captain speaking \u2013 O I am sorry \u2013 this is your vice-captain speaking,\u201d the entire team bus burst out in laughter as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu took over the microphone, all in an effort to bring in some humour. \u201cDon\u2019t forget to wash your […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38329\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-01T06:15:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Indian_Football_Team_in_Nepal.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"926\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"headline\":\"With rain on the cards, Blue Tigers upbeat for ‘challenging’ Nepal friendlies\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-01T06:15:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329\"},\"wordCount\":513,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/Indian_Football_Team_in_Nepal.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Football\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38329\",\"name\":\"With rain on the cards, Blue Tigers upbeat for 'challenging' Nepal friendlies - 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