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Houghton hopeful of good show

Sports Reporter

Coach happy with teams competing

GURGAON: As the Indian football team began its practice here after its return from Barcelona, Chief Coach Bob Houghton said the home team was hopeful of a good performance in the upcoming Nehru Cup even though one of the main strikers, Sunil Chetri, looked doubtful for the tournament.

The tournament has become a five-nation event after Palestine was not considered since it planned to send a club team.

Houghton was delighted with the changed format. “It is a better format where you are guaranteed four matches. It is the same as the last Nehru Cup,” the coach said.

He also expressed happiness with the teams competing in the tournament. “There are some good teams. We are misinformed by the FIFA rankings. It’s not always a fair reflection of the quality. But the teams are good and we do feel a good chance for us,” he said.

However, the point of bother for Houghton was Chetri’s fitness. “Chetri has long career ahead of him. We are definitely not going to take a chance if he doesn’t recover fully before the start of the tournament,” Houghton said.

“But then, he has been in fine form for the last one year. He scored a fine hat-trick in the AFC Challenge Cup final in Delhi. Missing him from the squad would certainly be a disadvantage,” said the Briton.

Along with other Indian team members, Chetri was present at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium here for the team’s work-out, but did not participate in the training session. He only restricted himself to some fitness drills under the supervision of physio Gagan Kapoor.

Houghton hoped that Chetri, who has ruptured ligaments in his right leg, would be fit for games in the later stages of the tournament. “Let’s not rule out Chetri and wait till the 20-member team is announced on August 18,” the Chief Coach said.

The attack

Meanwhile, Houghton is preparing the attack without the absence of Chetri. He has called East Bengal’s Subash Singh to join the camp and hopes that the likes of Abhishek Yadav, Sushil and Syed Rahim Nabi would do well.

The coach expressed disappointment over the poor state of the ground at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi — the venue of the Nehru Cup which will be used for the Independence Day parade. “It’s disappointing. You never see good games on bad surfaces,” he said.

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