Important for us to adjust to conditions in Guam fast, says Indian football coach Constantine

Guam: Jet-lagged after a long flight, the Indian football team today underwent a training session ahead of their 2018 World Cup Qualification Preliminary Round Two match against Guam on June 16.

The team spent some 16 hours in the air and landed in Guam 27 hours after leaving Bengaluru on June 12. They had their first training session this afternoon at the Guam FA Stadium.

“It was a nice session. It’s an artificial surface and we worked the ball around getting a feel of the pitch. It’s important that we adjust to everything, and fast,” head coach Stephen Constantine said.

India play Guam on June 16 in their second Group D match. They had lost to Oman 1-2 in their first match in Bengaluru on June 11. Guam, on the other hand, had beaten Turkmenistan by a solitary goal in their first match at home on June 11.

As soon as the Indians reached Guam, an unincorporated organised territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean, yesterday, they headed for the beaches and had their exercises – running and stretching – there.

“It was a very long trip. We spent a lot of time in the air and it was very tiring. The body needs to adapt to the different surroundings, the jet lag is always there and obviously, there’s a change in the time zone as well,” Constantine said.

“So when we arrived, the temptation was there to go and rest. But it was very important to train and hence, the moment we checked in, we changed and went straight to the beach. We did some core stability exercises, some running and lots of stretching.

“The reason for that was that we did not want the players to go to sleep immediately and wanted all to get a good sleep in the time-frame where we are,” he added.

PTI