The Hindu : Sport / Football : Abbas is Air India's hero

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 09, 2006

Sport

Sport - Football

Abbas is Air India's hero

Margao: Air India shocked Mohammedan Sporting by a solitary goal in the ONGC Cup 10th National Football League at the Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday. The match-winner came through Bashiru Abbas in the 69th minute.

With this win, Air India increased its tally to seven from five outings, while Sporting remained on 10 from seven matches.

The first session was a dull affair and play was confined mostly to the midfield. However, Air India came close to scoring on a couple of occasions. In the 11th minute, Paresh Shivalkar passed to Abbas, whose attempt narrowly missed the mark.

In the 30th minute, Suley Musah, from the top of the box, unleashed a free kick which also went wide.

It was just not Sporting's day as it failed to combine as a unit. It could not piece together even one good move in the first half.

After change of ends, Air India continued to hold the upperhand. It could have taken the lead in the 65th minute, but Paresh Shivalkar wasted a superb pass from Narendra Meetei.

However, the team surged ahead in the 69th minute through Abbas, who collected a pass from Uttam Singh before deceiving Sporting goalkeeper Gopal Das. — UNI

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