The Hindu : Sport / Football : National camp begins at half-strength

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Sunday, Aug 06, 2006

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Sport - Football

National camp begins at half-strength

Principal Correspondent

KOLKATA: The national football camp of the Indian probables selected for the third round Group A match of AFC Asian Cup 2007 qualifier against Saudi Arabia, began at half-strength here at the SAI Eastern Centre on Saturday.

With the new chief national coach, Englishman Bob Houghton having made it to the city on schedule on Wednesday night, the players trickled in small groups pushing the start of the camp behind by one day. The camp got underway finally with 15 out of the 34 selected players attending the first session of training held in the evening.

Setback

The camp received a setback before the start with at least four players reportedly not in a state of fitness owing to injury or illness. Defender Mahesh Gawli (Mahindra United) and midfielder Dharamjit Singh (Mohun Bagan) are nursing injuries while K. Ajayan (Mahindra) failed to report after sustaining a dog bite and Debabrata Roy (East Bengal) is said to be down with a bout of jaundice.

Two more players Samir Naik (Dempo SC) and Mickey Fernandes (Salgaocar SC) also skipped the first day's practice owing to illness. A total of 19 players reported to the camp — with four not attending the first day — while the remaining 15 players - mostly from local sides East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting — are yet to report. These players are awaiting release by their respective clubs.

Stars who made it

Among the notable players present were captain Sahnmugam Venkatesh, Steven Dias, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, P. Renedy Singh, Micky Fernandes, N. S. Manju, Deepak Mondal, N.P. Pradeep and the seasoned Joe Paul Ancheri. There is no talk about the former captain Baichung Bhutia rejoining the squad.

Having beaten a Chinese youth team for the third position in the Whitecaps Nations Cup at Vancouver last month, the Indians under its new coach will be looking to erase the humiliations in the first two Asian Cup matches.

The side, then under Syed Nayeemuddin, lost to Japan (0-6) and Yemen (0-3) early in year before having a prolonged break, which saw the selection of Houghton.

The match against Saudi Arabia, at Salt Lake Stadium here on August 16, has generated some hopes on this count.

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