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Tuesday, Mar 13, 2007
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Stress on the positives: Toal

Special Correspondent

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

ALL EARS: Coach Colm Toal gives tips to the Indian players.

CHENNAI: Stress on the positives rather than worry on the negatives. That is the advice of coach Colm Toal to the members of the Indian Olympic (under-23) football team.

"We lost to Iraq, which had finished runner-up at the Busan Asian Games. But we played a good game against Iraq. It was a fine performance," Toal said about the match at Jordan where India lost 0-3.

Toal said there was little point now in dwelling on the shortcomings or trying to find corrections for them. "Instead lets look at our strengths and work on them," he said.

He added the boys were not short of skills, but where they get beaten was in the height-weight ratio. Taller players and heavier bodies are advantageous and Iraq was far ahead there.

Watching the players at a hectic practice session, one thing was clear: they all looked quite fit and nippy. It has to be seen how the Thailand players fare. The visitors arrived late on Monday afternoon, but were off to practice without wasting much time.

Asked if he had set any target in the Olympic qualifiers, Toal said he did not believe in setting goals. "I believe in match by match assessment and keep improving in performance. Naturally we will aim to win, surely for the fans," he said.

The Irish coach, who would take over as the Technical Director of Indian football once Bob Houghton returns, said he had no clue on how Thailand performed.

"We had tried to get a tape of its match against North Korea, but we could not," he said.

"The boys are competitive. They showed it in Amman and now even though one key player (midfielder Chitrasen) is injured, they will still do well," Toal said. However, he is not prepared for any prediction about the March 14 match against the Thais.

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