New Delhi, Aug 22 (Inditop.com) After losing to Lebanon, defending champions India can’t afford to lose any more matches if they have to make the ONGC Nehru Cup football final. The first of the must-win games is against Kyrgyzstan, the weakest in the field, Sunday – but injuries are adding to India’s woes.
India were lucky they got an extra day of rest as the Lebanon-Sri Lanka match was put off by a day because of Friday’s thunderstorm.
From here on, India need to not only win matches, but they will also have to keep an eye on the goal difference. At worst, they can afford to draw one game and that should, perhaps, be against favourites Syria, to take their points tally to seven, assuming they beat Kyrgyzstan and Sri Lanka.
Going by their record against Kyrgyzstan, India should have little difficulty in beating them with comfort as they did in the last edition, winning 3-0.
As luck would have it, India’s loss against Lebanon also resulted in injuries to two dependable defenders N.S. Manju and Anwar.
Manju has been ruled out of the tournament with a fractured toe while Anwar has a bruised thigh and is a doubtful starter Sunday. Mahesh Gawli and Dipak Mondal are expected to start against Kyrgyzstan.
Houghton sees the injuries as a big blow to India’s title aspirations. He, however, feels that Anwar would be fit for the Kyrgyzstan match.
The injuries will not only affect the defence, but also the entire team composition.
Another of Houghton’s worries is the inability of strikers Bhaichung Bhutia and Sushil Singh to finish. The link men, too, need to do a bit more to help the attack.
Left-half Steven Dias did create opportunities in the opening match, but N.P. Pradeep and Climax Lawrence lacked thrust. Newcomer Anthony Pereira had the feel of an international and he can only improve from here.
Bhutia would like to forget the Lebanon match while Sushil must be a little more forthright in his approach in the box. To be fair to Sushil, he is in the team only because Sunil Chettri is not fully fit with a bothersome ankle.
When brought on in the second half, Chettri showed some enterprise against Lebanon.
In sheer desperation, Houghton might start Chettri with Bhutia, his two best attackers. Ultimately, India’s hopes rest on their striking power.
India (from): Subrata Paul, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury; Mahesh Gawli, Gourmangi Singh, Anwar, Surkumar Singh, Dipak Mondal, Sameer Naik; Climax Lawrence, Steven Dias, Renedy Singh, Anthony Pereira, Mehrajuddin Waddoo, Syed Rahim Nabi, N.P. Pradeep; Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chettri, Sushil Singh, Abhishek Yadav.
Kyrgyzstan (from): Matiash Pavel, Agapov Maksim, Amin Viacheslav; Ablakimov Roman, Abitov Faruh, Zakirov Rustamjan, Usanov Rustem, Chikishev Sergey; Askarov Davron, Amirov Ildar, Bokoev Aibek, Muladjanov Artem, Mirzaliev Almazbek, Kasian Vladimir, Sidorenko Pavel, Orozaliev Aibek, Kaleutin Sergey, Lutfullaev Hurshit; Shamshiev Islam, Murzaev Mirlan, Zemlianuhin Anton, Harchenko Vadim.
rounak