Khalid Jamil warns India it will be tough against Uruguay in home friendly on 6 October
India coach Khalid Jamil warned his side the home friendly against Uruguay on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, would be difficult as they try to finish their September-October window on a positive note following a 4-0 loss to Brazil.
The match will be only the second meeting between India and Uruguay and the first since the 1982 Nehru Cup, with the Blue Tigers aiming for at least a draw or a shock win to validate progress under Jamil. Uruguay arrive off a “big win over South Korea in the last game,” according to Jamil, and the Indian coach said their players and coach demand full respect. Jamil also criticised the limited recovery time his players have had since the Brazil fixture and said that factor affects preparations for the Uruguay match.
Addressing fitness and opposition quality, Jamil said: “After the last game, we’ve had little recovery time. We’ll play a strong team; Uruguay have a good coach and high-quality players. I’ve seen their last two matches; they’ve played really well. They’re well rested too; it won’t be an easy game, but a pretty hard game.”
On tactical focus and concentration, Jamil warned against early lapses: “I felt we had a lack of concentration in the Brazil game. So I feel that in this game, we must have good concentration from the 90th minute. You must have that belief that, yes, you can get a good result. We’re playing on home ground; we’ve had a bit less time for recovery. I hope the players will be ready tomorrow.”
Jamil outlined his selection approach ahead of the friendly, saying decisions will follow training assessments: “We have practice today; we’ll evaluate everyone, and whoever is looking sharpest will be playing. Sometimes it happens when you give others opportunities.” He reiterated an open competition for places and backed goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after his errors against Brazil: “Yes, we’ll see who is doing well in training, and those who impress will continue to play. It’s very open; everyone will get chances, and those who are doing the best will be used. It’s not the end of the road for Gurpreet. Maybe he starts against Uruguay; we’ll see how he performs in training and pick accordingly.”
On attacking shape and in-game adjustments, Jamil noted India have created more chances recently and stressed adaptability: “Our approach for this game will be different. Uruguay are a physically strong side; we must match them. They are tactically good as well. Depending on the situation, we must act. If it’s required to defend, we’ll defend, and if required to attack – we’ll do that. According to the situation, we must adapt.” The coaching staff have identified that most final-third activity has come from Ryan Williams and Manvir Singh, with Jamil indicating other players must also contribute.
Jamil thanked clubs for releasing players but said he cannot dictate club positional choices: “Yes, I’m very happy that the clubs released their players. I cannot ask them to specifically play the Indian players in the attacking positions. They also have experienced coaches, and all coaches have their plans and are very mature. I’ll just check which players are doing well, and they’ll be in the India camp.” He added credit for attacking intent belongs to the players: “All the credits goes to the players. I just give them information and they decide how to approach matches. Because we have attacking players, that is why we decided to attack in the last few matches. Everything goes to the players, and the positive performances are because of them only.”
Defender Akash Mishra described the mood after the Brazil defeat and urged improvement in focus, saying: “After the loss, we never feel good as players. As footballers, we don’t have to sit down with results. We have a very good upcoming game, so we must prepare for that and do our best.” He added that excitement at meeting Brazil did not affect in-game behaviour and reiterated the need for concentration for the full 90 minutes: “I think that you can show the excitement before or after the game. But during the game, in the 90 minutes, there was no behaviour like a fan from the boys. They played really well throughout the 90 minutes... When you play against teams like this, you need to keep utmost focus for 90 minutes and we need to work on that. Uruguay is as good as the other teams, so we must focus for the entire game.”
Jamil confirmed the squad will be assessed in training ahead of team selection and India will play Uruguay on Tuesday, 6 October 2026.