The Hindu : Sport / Football : Japan drubs India

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Thursday, Oct 12, 2006
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Japan drubs India

Avinash Nair

FINE SAVE: Indian goalkeeper Sandip Nandy thwarts Ryuji Bando.

BANGALORE: India, clearly overawed and overwhelmed, suffered a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Japan in the AFC Cup qualifying match — its fifth straight defeat in as many matches at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here this evening.

Indian hopes for a revival were dashed by a Ryuji Bando's brace (22nd, 43rd) and a `boomer' from Kengo Nakamura (82nd).

Indian coach Bob Houghton had chalked out a strategy. But that sadly remained on the boards as there was hardly any semblance of a game plan. The wings were often seen in a defensive role while mainstay in the midfield S. Venkatesh had a forgettable outing.

The Indian defence broke down early in the match. Deepak Mondal suffered a knee injury as early as in the 15th minute while going for a sliding tackle. Anupam Sarkar took his place and N.S. Manju, who had a harrowing time in the left wing back's position was moved into the stopper's role.

The switch did look good but only for a moment till the 22nd minute when the Indian goal fell. An Alessandro Santos centre from left was deflected by Yuki Abe onto the path of Ryuji Bando who neatly slid the ball into the far corner with Sandip Nandy rooted in the middle.

The goal spurred the Japanese, while it dented the Indian morale and after a four-minute stoppage as one of the `towers' blinked, the Japanese went 2-0 up. Santos crossed and Bando headed powerfully the ball bouncing in front of Nandy and going in.

And then came the final nail with a blast of a goal (82nd) from Nakamura from 30 yards out that left the entire defence and goalkeeper Nandy watching in amazement.

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