India’s boss seeks inspiration from Greece coach’s Euro 2004 effort as his team faces daunting task against Japan in pre-quarters today.
Sukhwinder Singh is an Otto Rehhagel fan. Like the Greece coach quietly surprised the football superpowers of Europe at the Euro 2004 championship, the Indian football coach is plotting his own fairytale at the 2010 Asian Games.
The task in front of him is insurmountable, but then who gave his team a chance of advancing to the knock-out stage from a group as tough as having defending champions Qatar, Kuwait and Singapore. The wily old Sardar is still standing and smiling.
However, in spite of all the optimism, the Indian coach is aware of the enormity of the task at hand when his team meets Asia’s No 1 ranked team, Japan, in the pre-quarterfinal here on Tuesday afternoon.
“I believe that in modern football, there is no underdog. If you play with a plan anything can happen,” Sukhwinder told DNA. “At the same time, they are undoubtedly a very strong team. But it is always nice to be against a superior side because if you play well it is a great honour and anyway you have nothing to lose,” he added.
The biggest strength of the Indian under-23 boys is the confidence they have derived from holding their own against equally tough opponents as Kuwait and Qatar.
India’s biggest concern is that they will be without their regular goalkeeper Laxmikant Kuttimani, who is out with a back injury.
The onus is now on Gurpreet Singh as he is the lone goalkeeper in the squad.
India captain Joaquim Abranches was upbeat about his team’s chances. “We have to be tactically very alert. They are very good at turning and short passing. The key to success will be to stop them from playing to their strengths.”
The odds are staked heavily against India but as Sukhwinder said: “Who gave Greece a chance in Euro 2004? I remember, they were playing their first game against Portugal and everyone was expecting they would be routed 4-0, and Rehhagel masterminded them to the title.”
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