The Hindu : Sport : Crucial match for India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 26, 2007
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Sport

Crucial match for India

Vijay Lokapally

Syria maintains unbeaten record

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

GOAL: Syria’s Mohammed Alzeno beats Cambodian goalkeeper Pich Rovenyothin and scores.

NEW DELHI: A bunch of starry eyed girls, most of them budding footballers, cheered the Indian team at the Janaki Devi Mahavidyalaya ground here, closely keeping an eye on the movements of Baichung Bhutia and N.S. Manju.

They seemed the most popular with these girls. Armed with autograph books, the girls mobbed their idols and wished them for the crucial match against Kyrgyzstan on Sunday.

It was indeed refreshing to see the Indian footballers in a relaxed frame of mind. The training session presented the team as a cohesive unit, raring to get on with the match against Kyrgyzstan in the ONGC Nehru Cup football tournament.

India’s progress in the tournament hinges on the outcome of the match. A draw would be fine for India to grab a place in the final, but it can be a tricky situation. Few coaches relish a situation where the team has to make a difficult decision — to attack or defend.

In terms of success, most teams adopting defensive tactics tend to pay dearly. The Indians know and pledge they will go all out on Sunday.

Chief coach Bob Houghton knows his team well and did not waste time in spelling out the tactics he would adopt. “Attack,” is the refrain as Houghton reiterated that the team’s strength lies in playing aggressive football.

“We will not play for a draw,” he was emphatic. It spoke well for the team’s desire to shed old tactics of taking the field with a defensive mindset.

Strong reasons

He would have good reasons to back the players so strongly and the form of Bhutia and Sunil Chettri could well prove to be the critical factor in deciding India’s fate. The team will bank on the support from the midfield and try and build the moves instead of indulging in the long-ball ploy which could prove disastrous against tall opponents from Kyrgyzstan.

Renedy Singh will return to the playing eleven instead of Clifford Climax. The team management is convinced that Renedy suits the requirement better with his superior defensive qualities and the ability to trigger off a counter-attack.

The boys know it and promise to raise their game in front of an appreciative audience. The organisers expect a full house and nothing could be more intoxicating for the spectators than a victory for Bhutia and his men. Among the audience, praying every moment of the contest, would be those youngsters from JDM too.

Meanwhile, Syria finished its league engagements with an unbeaten record beating Cambodia 5-1. The scorers for Syria were Mohammed Alzeno (25th minute), Zyad Chaabo (35th), Maher Al Sayed (50th and 86th) and Aatef Jenyat (80th).

For Cambodia, Teab Vathanak (66th) had reduced the lead to 3-1 before Syria came up with two more goals.

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