Expectations are a funny thing. Even if you’re not used to doing too well, raise your game once or twice and the expectations from those watching or rooting for you rise disproportionately. Those expectations come from a place of positivity, of hope; and to try and bottle them goes against base human spirit.
Which is why you can’t blame an Indian football fan for dreaming ahead of their men’s national team’s AFC Asian Cup opener against Australia on Jan 13. You see, last summer, India fell in love with her football team. And with love comes hope, and expectation, and belief.
It didn’t really matter that the competitions won – Tri-nations Cup, India at AFC Asian Cup: Key questions facing Igor Stimac
They will believe that Stimac has tactical plans customised to suit the three different group stage opponents: perhaps keep it tight and counter sparingly against Australia, be a little more expansive against Uzbekistan and do much more than that against what should be equals in Syria. They will hope India avoid a repeat of the humbling the team got in 2011, but will also want them to be braver than they were in the 2019. It’s counterintuitive almost, but that’s the nature of love. They will pray that win or lose, their team will go for it with all they have, and a sound plan.
And no one can really fault them for it. Those emotions of the fans are as real as the practical challenges that lie waiting on the field… and the Indian team should not be afraid to embrace them. Isn’t that the whole point of all this?
