International football comes to the country after a hiatus of ten years as the ONGC Nehru Cup kicks off in the Capital on Friday.
NEW DELHI: International football comes to the country after a hiatus of ten years as the ONGC Nehru Cup kicks off in the Capital on Friday.
The opening match of the tournament features host India against Cambodia and the event winds up after 13 days with the final scheduled for August 29. To be held on a round-robin format between five teams — India, Cambodia, Syria, Krgyzstan and Bangladesh — the Nehru Cup promises to be a keenly fought affair.
India captain Bhaichung Bhutia was optimistic about his team’s chances. “We have a realistic chance of winning but it is not an easy tournament. But for the first time we are really playing as a team in which each player knows his precise role. We have also had a good exposure trip to Portugal and are better prepared than ever before,” Bhutia said.
The ONGC Nehru Cup has its fair share of detractors who point to the truncated national teams turning up. Syria, Krgyzstan, Cambodia, Bangladesh and India comprise the field and the belief is that while India may have its best side on display, the others don’t seem to.
But that’s not a factor that Indian coach Bob Houghton subscribes to. “Coaches always like to downplay their chances. India can make four to five changes without any significant difference so someone coming in without a full strength team is not an issue,” the Englishman said.
Houghton would rather focus on the positives. “This event gives us a good chance to evaluate the competition for our World Cup qualifiers. Syria just beat Lebanon and we are drawn to face them. Syria will give us a good hint of what Lebanon will be like. Similarly Krgyzstan reflects the standard of that group of countries in Central Asia,” explains Houghton.
The coach also feels that the last few months have seen the team come together as a unit and that bonding will be further strengthened by the exposure at this meet. The crucial bit will be the mental fragility that India displayed in the past.
“If big players keep losing their way then the mentality aspect begins to figure. We hope we have managed to change the mindset but it takes times,” said Houghton.
Bhutia too stressed on the need for India to show mettle under pressure. “The mental aspect is one of our major problems. We have seen players playing real aggressive while with their club teams but not so abroad. We need to be tougher. There can be 40 to 50% improvement in out play if we can change that.”
While conceding that there was still a lot of work to be done on fitness Houghton stressed that the team has not lost its way in the final 15 minutes on account of physical prowess.
“Most teams play to a different strategy in the last 15 minutes of a match and the game changes because of that. It is more mental than physical. That’s a concern we are looking to address.”
Houghton was positive that the eleven that will be fielded tomorrow will be the best India has. “We are not missing anyone and are pretty much at full strength.”
Squad: Bhaichung Bhutia, Rennedy Singh, Sanjeev Maria, Subrata Paul, Debabrata Roy, Surkumar Singh, Arindam Bhattacharya, Bungo Singh, Sunil Chettri, Mahesh Gawli, Gouramangi Singh, Climax Lawrence, NP Pradip, K Ajayan, Clifford Miranda, Sameer Naik, Mehrajuddin Waddoo, Manjeet Singh, Stevan Dias, NS Manju, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Abhishek Yadav, Rahim Nabi, Tarif Ahmed.
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