ISL has Helped Prepare Indian Footballers for Big Games: Jo Paul Ancheri

New Delhi: The draw against Asian champions Qatar in the World Cup qualifier saw pundits and football fans across the country hailing the Blue Tigers. While the top-class show against the highest-ranked Asian outfit came as a pleasant surprise, the question that followed was whether the Indian team can consistently replicate such a performance against other top footballing nations. And former India midfielder Jo Paul Ancheri believes they can thank the Indian Super League (ISL).

Speaking to IANS, Jo Paul Ancheri said that the reason behind the Indian team doing well against a champion team like Qatar and before that against Oman - India were leading going into the last 10 minutes before conceding two goals in the 82nd and 90th minute - is the influx of quality foreign players in the ISL.

“Earlier, you had a few quality foreign players. But with ISL, a lot of big foreign names started coming and momentum was created. The game and since then taken shape in the country. Why do you think the Indian team is playing good football? It is because good players are coming here and the competition is tough and the Indians are also improving as they look to compete with the best.

“That contest in the ISL prepares the Indian players to face any other country. According to me, that is why we did so well against Qatar,” he pointed.

But lack of quality strikers post-Sunil Chhetri is what worries the former India player. “I don’t see a player in the under-20 or under-23 team who can take over from him. Though Balwant Singh and Jeje Lalpekhlua are there, we need to find strikers who can score regularly. We can defend very well. We can send passes, but the problem is scoring,” he said.

When asked the reason behind this constant issue in Indian football, Ancheri said that the clubs not backing Indian strikers is undoubtedly one of the reasons behind the country’s failure to produce goal scorers at the top.

“An important factor is that most of the clubs have foreign strikers and that is one of the reasons that Indian strikers are not getting a chance,” he explained. IANS

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