The Hindu : Sport / Football : Indian team upbeat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 28, 2006

Sport

Sport - Football

Indian team upbeat

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: Indian football received a shot in the arm on Monday with sportswear major Nike signing a seven-year deal ahead of the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) 2007 Asian Cup Group `A' qualifier against Yemen slated for March 1.

With the Nike deal in the boot, the Indian team was upbeat of performing better than the Japan match. Though the deal was only made official on Monday, the Indian team had played against Japan in the Nike kit on February 22 and eked out a miserable 0-6 result.

"Japan is a World Cup team. We are now looking ahead and hope to do better against Yemen," argued captain Baichung Bhutia.

The team had its first official practice at the Air Force stadium here but chief coach Syed Nayeemddin had very little to say about the team's preparations.

As for Yemen, the team arrived here in the early hours on Monday, a day ahead of their schedule leaving the local host, the Delhi Soccer Association (DSA), in a quandary.

Yemen touched down here with a 35-member delegation, including 25 players. However, the DSA was not prepared for such a big squad. That made things a bit difficult for the officials to sort out the accommodation details. The FIFA and AFC regulation stipulates that visiting squads should be limited to 20 players plus officials.

The visiting team finally landed for practice at the Thyagaraj stadium more than three hours behind schedule. The state of the ground further angered the Yemen team.

Yemeni coach Ahmed Al-Rae said, "We have had just two weeks of practice in Egypt, but this is hardly a way to prepare for a big match."

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