Dubai: India coach Armando Colaco has said his side's 2-1 friendly defeat of Qatar on Sunday has given his squad the belief they can outdo the UAE in the second round of World Cup qualifiers which begin with a first leg in Al Ain on Saturday.
Speaking to Gulf News before boarding a flight to the UAE from Qatar, Colaco said: "Qatar is a great team and to have beaten them is really important at this stage for Indian football. We are in a rebuilding phase and our young players are learning with every match. This is a transitional period for the purpose of our five-year plan and things are going [according] to plan."
Saying that, Colaco isn't just writing the UAE game off as experience: "My players are eager to play the UAE, and we will play to win. The Qatar win has begun to give us the belief that we need to beat sides like the UAE."
Colaco added: "I really like the way my boys are playing at the moment. It's not the question of winning against Qatar that pleased me, but the way in which we did it. We've managed to adapt our style of play in a very short period of time and it shows already that we're a changed side from the India that went to the Asian Cup in January. We've brought in youngsters and retained some experience and its gelling well."
Underdogs
"We are of course still the underdogs and the UAE is a great team, we've seen that from our videos, and the way in which they absolutely hammered Lebanon 6-2 just confirms our belief."
Asked if India's preparation was more professionally minded than the UAE's, who chose to train in Austria which differs drastically in both altitude and temperature to Al Ain and New Delhi, Colaco who took his squad to Qatar, and played against similar sides to the UAE, said: "We're happy with our preparation. I think our acclimatisation period has been good. We've not had much time just four weeks with the whole squad together, but we've managed a lot within that time. It's different to the UAE's situation as they are used to playing in these conditions. But I feel we've done enough to adapt to the weather in both venues."
