The Hindu : Sport / Football : Talented players: Sukhwinder

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Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005

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Sport - Football

Talented players: Sukhwinder

Sports Reporter

Bangalore: It has been a fortnight of sweat and swerve, goals and game plans as India's under-23 football players fine-tune their skills at a camp in progress here at the Football stadium and at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

The 33 players will soon be pruned to 25 and the number will be reduced again as the team for the tour of Fiji will be finalised a few days before the camp concludes on August 6.

The India under-23 team is scheduled to play in Fiji on August 10, 12 and 14.

The current camp and the subsequent tour of Fiji are all part of a long-term process that aims to gear up the Indian team for the Asian Games at Doha, next year.

Coach Sukhwinder Singh praised the lads but also admitted that the players of the calibre of I.M. Vijayan or Bhaichung Bhutia are hard to find.

"This is a talented bunch of players. They are good and they work hard. Their fitness levels have improved from what they were on the first day of the camp, when they came in after a break. But yes it is tough to find players like I.M. Vijayan or Bhutia. That extra `special something' is what we are all searching for. May be that will happen in the coming years," Sukhwinder Singh said.

For now the coach's eyes are blinkered on the Doha Asian Games.

"In the Asian Games, only under-23 players along with three senior players can form a team. We are preparing for that. This bunch does have some really good players but it will be unfair on my part to name them right now. Our tour of Fiji will give us some good exposure and we are ranked close to each other (India is ranked 131 while Fiji ranks 141), therefore the matches will be competitive. Right now all the players are fit and there are no injury worries. In this camp we are focussing on the physical, technical and tactical aspects but it all depends on how the players respond in match situations and we are also observing them in practise matches," Sukhwinder said.

The coach is assisted by Stanley Rozario (assistant coach), Brahmanand (goal-keeping coach) and Pradip Dutta (physical trainer).

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