How will the Indian football graph move?

INDIAN FOOTBALL is at the cross-roads. And the pre-World Cup qualifiers to be held in Bangalore (April and May) would be an ideal time to reflecton how the graph would move.

Since the Sahara Millenium Cup, held at Kochi, Goa and Kolkata in January this year, Indian football and the overall outlook was starkly exposed. Since then nothing has been done to put things in the right perspective. India fared miserably against both Iceland and Uruguay, in the group matches itself.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) took the punch on the face and then did the next best thing. Sacked coach Islam Akhmedov and reverted to JCT man Sukhwinder Singh.

Sukhwinder, it may be recalled, had refused to take over the mantle citing commitment towards the club side - JCT - for refusing the National assignment. Why then did AIFF go back to the sardar, with the National Football League (NFL) still in progress. And it may also be noted that the once famed side is languishing at the bottom of the 12 team league.Is Sukhwinder trying to desert a sinking ship, or has he suddenly realised his national responsibility?

The JCT man was at the helm of affairs for two years and going by the progress sheet, had a decent run with mixed results. Though India did bow out to Bangladesh in the semifinals of the SAF Games, the triumphs in the SAARC tourney and the impressive showing in the Asian championship, going down to UAE through two late strikes were appreciable efforts during Sukhwinder's tenure (India finished behind Uzbekistan (2-3) and UAE (1-3) to finish third in group 3, having beaten Sri Lanka 3-1 and drawn with Bangladesh (2-2).

However when Islam Akhmedov was elevated as the chief coach for the Sahara Millenium Cup, early this year, the Ukrainian showed a definite tilt towards experience with the likes of Bruno Coutinho, I. M. Vijayan and Carlton Chapman finding favour. After the shattering defeats, Chapman and Coutinho have lost out, although Vijayan more into a career in acting, is being retained.

With Sukhwinder's reinstatement the cream has been retained with Basudeb Mondal, the captain in the Sahara Cup, being a notable omission. Tapan Ghosh and Hardip Singh Sangha however miss out with injuries.

When asked about the composition of the team and its strengths, Sukhwinder sounded optimistic. ``The players are now familiar with their roles. As they are coming straight from a strenuous National League, all of them are match fit. So the first few days of the camp is towards relaxation and set pieces. Only towards the last few days will the combinations be worked out'', said the coach.

Regarding the role for Baichung Bhutia, whose return has given the much needed filip to the team, Sukhwinder was guarded. ``I have not discussed on the specific role for Bhutia. Although he played as a schemer during his stay in England, it was his striking prowess that enabled the Sikkim lad to hog the limelight. We will use him according to the team's requirements,'' said Sukhwinder.

On the strategy, the chief coach although lost for words said: ``the good points gained over the years have been retained while there is definite scope to improve upon the drawbacks. Our stress during this camp is on possession football, to play under pressure and more set pieces''.

Brahmanand Shankwalkar, the goalkeeping coach too sounded quite satisfied with the three goalkeepers. ``We may have to retain all three. And Narasimhan Balaji, thanks to his fine physique and speed looks impressive, although his temperament needs to be fine tuned,'' said Brahmanand. Virender Singh and Prasanta Dora are others in contention for the custodian's job.

The backline despite the absence of Tapan Ghosh has solidity with experienced Joe Paul Ancheri, K. V. Dhanesh, Deepak Mondal and Roberto Fernandes providing the support cast to the dependable Mahesh Gawli. The midfield depends on the combination that the coach would opt for with Renedy Singh, Jules Alberto, Shanmugham Venkatesh, R. P. Singh and Khalid Jamil to choose from. Up front, in all probability will be Bhutia partnering I. M. Vijayan with the talented R. C. Prakash who has had a wonderful season thus far, the hard working Abdul Hakim and Alvito D'Cunha with his lethal left, to add sharpness.

India faces off a strong UAE in its first outing and then takes on Yemen and Brunei in that order, both the sides are ranked below India in the FIFA list. However in this level of competition no team can be taken for granted as was evinced by Ecuador's surprise 1-0 win over the famed Brazil, recently. ``We have a good chance to qualify provided we seize our opportunities,`` signed off Sukhwinder.

Good luck to Sukhwinder and his boys!

AVINASH NAIR

Bangalore

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