New Delhi: Syria were taken care of rather easily in the tournament opener, but a sterner test awaits the Indian football team as it gets ready to face Maldives in the Nehru Cup here on Saturday.
The last time the two teams met, in the semi-final of the SAFF Cup in December, India eked out a comfortable 3-1 win, but going by their dominating display over Nepal last night, Maldives seem to have made improvements in their game.
Even as the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium wore a deserted look, Maldives' show did not escape India's new coach, Wim Koevermans' attention.
The Dutchman along with his support staff was there at the stadium, analysing their next opponents from JLN's upper tier to get a "better view".
The first 46 minutes of the game were enough for Koevermans to form an opinion, especially about Maldives skipper Asfaq Ali, who was always on the prowl upfront.
A downpour perhaps, after 33 minutes of play against Syria, did not allow the players to demonstrate the new set of skills they may have learnt from Koevermans in the last one month or so. The India coach was impressed with the result, but Syria is history.
"The match against Syria is past at the moment. Maldives boast of some good players who can make a difference," Koevermans said.
Conceding that rain had influenced the game, Koevermans was happy that it went according to the script.
"We are confident, the first match is always important, as it always counts. The players had a good game," the Dutchman said.
Adding to his confidence could be the fact that the squad is injury-free at the moment, though he expressed his displeasure at the yellow card shown to goalkeeper Subrata Paul.
Portugal-returned skipper Sunil Chhetri and Anthony Pereira's fired in a goal each in India's win over Syria on Wednesday. Chhetri has been the cynosure of all eyes since returning from Sporting Lisbon and as it often happens with this Indian team, it needed the Delhi striker to open scoring.
Fresh from his nearly one-month pre-season training stint at the Iberian country, Chhetri, by regularly troubling the Syrian defence, once again showed why he is rated as the country's most dangerous striker.
As far as team composition is concerned, Koevermans is likely to start with the same XI that took the field against Syria, though a young bench, that has the likes of Alwyn George and Manandeep Singh, does give him the liberty to experiment.
Maldives coach Istvan Urbanyi is aware of that.
"Wim Koevermans comes from the Dutch School of thought. So it's understandable, he will try to implement the same in Indian football," Urbanyi said.
Urbanyi further said: "It's impossible to comment on India at the moment. Rain played a major role in India's first match against Syria. So I just can't draw any comparison between this Indian side and former ones."
As far as Maldives are concerned, they have a few players who can create problems. Leading the way will be captain Ashfaq, who was in his element against Nepal.
The striker, who was offered a contract with Portuguese club Benfica when he was just 18, had the Nepal defence at his mercy for a major part of the match last night. The likes of Gouramangi Singh and Syed Rahim Nabi will have to be careful against Abdullah Asadullah and Easa Ismail -- both scored on debuts, against Nepal.
"Abdullah Asadullah is just 22 and Easa Ismail is a super talent," Urbanyi said.
At the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here tomorrow, both teams will look to sustain the momentum.
Comments
0 comment