Bengaluru: Midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh on Sunday said that India's 2018 World Cup qualifying round football match against Asian heavyweights Iran here on Tuesday would be a perfect platform to test the mettle of the home side.
Speaking at a media interaction at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium before Indian team's practice session today, Lyngdoh said, "As a Player you crave for matches like this. You crave for matches against the best teams."
"It is natural. You want to test yourself against the very best. Tell me who does not want to play Argentina?" he asked.
Iran are the highest-ranked Asian team in the FIFA charts at 40th while India are at 155th.
"Moreover, this also gives us an opportunity to give our opponents a hard fight. In football anyone can win, anyone can lose. We have a plan and we will follow that. We will give it our best shot and hope for a positive result," Lyngdoh stated.
"Coach (Stephen Constantine) has been motivating us to give it our best shot and that has installed in us a mentality. We are raring to go," he said.
The two teams head into Tuesday's clash with contrasting results from their last international matches. While India had a goalless stalemate against Nepal, Iran registered a convincing 6-0 win over Guam.
"We are still on track for our qualification if we get results our way. But we are focused on the game. Iran are a good side and we have to be on our level best if we have to get points out of them," said Lyngdoh.
