Unity Cup: Jamil urges players to punch above their weight in UK

Khalid Jamil knows what it feels like to play in England, widely accepted as the birthplace of modern football. He was there with the national team in 2000, India’s first tour to the country after the 1948 London Olympics, and one where they gave a good account of themselves in a narrow loss against Fulham and a goalless draw against West Bromwich Albion.India even brought the trip to a successful conclusion by recording a 1-0 victory against Bangladesh at Leicester City's Filbert Street ground.“Good performances in England, with packed stadiums and a great atmosphere, can boost players’ confidence,” Jamil told TOI during a recent video call. “It’s a football hub and everyone is invested in the game. We have a strong Indian diaspora in England and the crowd will be there to support us. We are playing strong opponents too.”Unlike his time as player, Jamil, now the coach, does not have the strongest squad for the Unity Cup, a tournament featuring four nations – Nigeria, Jamaica and Zimbabwe being the others – with large communities in the UK. Seven players from Mohun Bagan were withdrawn from the national team camp just hours before the flight took off for London.“It doesn’t matter to us if we have Mohun Bagan players or not,” Jamil said on the eve of India’s opener against Jamaica in London on Wednesday. “Whatever players are available, we will play with them. This is a good chance for the players to do well against much stronger opponents.”After Bagan’s late withdrawal, India arrived in London with just 17 players. Keeper Hrithik Tiwari joined a day later and two additions – midfielder Macarton Nickson and defender Nikhil Barla – landed on the eve of the opener. Mohammed Sanan, Ricky Meetei Haobam and Vikram Partap Singh are expected to complete the squad.“This is a very good exposure for us and a great experience,” said forward Edmund Lalrindika. “It is an opportunity to test ourselves against higher-ranked teams. We will try our best to get positive results."India’s last tour to the UK in 2002 saw them play Jamaica twice in friendly matches in Watford and Wolverhampton. Now they are up against Jamaica for a place in the final of the Unity Cup.Ranked 136th, India enter the contest as underdogs against a 71st-ranked Jamaica that came within a game of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The Reggae Boyz lost to DR Congo in the qualifying playoffs in March.“We have a lot of young, talented players to choose from, and we thought having a good mixture was the right thing to do this time,” said Jamaica coach Rudolph Speid. “India are a difficult team to assess because we have not played them at this level for a very long time. We have watched some of their matches, but they are still somewhat unknown to us.”