New Delhi: It is going to be a battle of unequals at least on papers when India, the defending champions take on Bhutan the lowest ranked team of the tournament in a group A league match up of the 2011 SAFF Championship on Monday. India who entered the tournament as favorites started were made to slog to their guts out to secure a draw against the less fancy side Afghanistan in their opening match.
Bhutan ranked 198th in FIFA had a horrible start to tournament after they were thrashed 3-0 by Sri-Lanka does allow India a breathing space, but the goal difference would seriously give Indian coach Savio Medeira some sleepless nights before the match. More than anything else it has become a necessity for India to win it by a big margin as it might act as a deciding factor as far as the slots for the semi finals are concerned.
The fact is doing rounds is Madeira’s mind and he wants his boys to go out all guns blazing against Bhutan. “I had a word with boys and told them to go for the kill. They would play to their character and I have full faith in them,” said Madeira.
Star striking pair of Sunil Chettri and Jeje Lalpekhlua who were off their element and were not up to the standards received full support from their coach. “You cannot expect a player to perform the same way that he does after travelling for 12 hours. They would get into the groove in the match,” added Madeira.
More than a below par show by the Indian strikers, it is the midfield combination that put India down badly as they were outplayed by their counterparts in every aspect. But they received the patronage of their coach, who said that he would not like to disturb his mid field combination. “They had a bad day against Afghanistan but they would come out of it soon,” said Madeira.
Even the formation might not see much change and all the players that started against Afghanistan would play against Bhutan, except for Sameer Naik who is out with a twisted ankle and either of Nirmal Chhetri or Govin Singh would make the cut.
Madeira also wants to retain the same combination and would not like to disturb it. “We are in a middle of a tournament and I don’t have time to experiment. I cannot play whatever combination according to my fancy because to do that we would require to practice the same way,” said Madeira.
India were given a run for their money in the South Asian Games 2010, when they scraped Bhutan past 2-1 in the 28th minute of the extra time need to keep that in mind and avoid complacency to stay away from further slip-ups.
For Bhutan, if they have to bother India in any means like how they did last time, would have to organize their act and make sure that their striking pair of Nim Sangay and Sangay Khandu fire out on all cylinders.
Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News