By Joseph Solomon,
AIFF Media Team

BENGALURU: Ranked 40 places ahead of India in the current FIFA Standings, Oman’s French Head Coach Paul Le Guen has put the onus on the hosts of providing a stellar encounter which will test the credentials of both sides.

Speaking at the Official pre-match Media Interaction, Le Guen expressed that the FIFA Standings will be a quantitative figure of no significance, the minute the whistle is blown.“I don’t care about the FIFA Rankings; all that matters are the 3 points that are at stake tomorrow,” he stated.

“India have a good Team. They deserve to be here. They have good Players and their Team is improving,” he added. “The Indian Team are like fighters, they love to play Football and they are physically ready. But we want to beat them.”

Identifying the strength of the Indian Team, Le Guen further quipped: “We need to defend well and maintain the balance of the Team because that is pivotal for us. We have to be concentrated and at the top of our game tomorrow.”

While India drew their last International game against Nepal 0-0, Oman succumbed 2-1 to Syria.

Former Wigan Athletic Goalkeeper Ali A-Habsi will be guarding the Oman citadel. “We have to improve. Every game is important for us and we respect India as our opponents. If we get complacent we can suffer against any Team. Concentration and focus is the key for us, for the next match,” the Oman Captain pronounced.

“Although we have experience in our Camp and some of the lads have earned more than 20 caps, we need to be humble and honor our opponents. Because if you don’t do that in the game of Football you can be beaten by any Team”, he maintained.

Given the setting of Bengaluru in recent days, with rain and cool breeze, one couldn’t think of a better platform than the Kanteerava Stadium, which will host the clash tomorrow at 7pm. “The weather is brilliant and ideal for playing as in Oman it is very hot. The Stadium and the facilities are brilliant and we are looking forward to be a part of it.” Al-Habsi informed.