India scores sensational win

By Avinash Nair

BANGALORE, APRIL 8. Jules Alberto provided the `magic' touch as India scored a sensational 1-0 victory over United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a Group 8 fixture of the Pre-World Cup preliminary match at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here today.

The patriotic fervour was not lost on the goodly gathering which rose above 22,000 as the match progressed, on an otherwise gloomy Sunday afternoon. And the celebration, as it was, spilled onto the roads.

India coach Sukhwinder Singh's motive of playing local lad R.C. Prakash alongwith captain and spearhead Baichung Bhutia, was difficult to fathom. Not that Prakash played badly, putting through a couple of good `throughs' onto the path of his captain. But the crowd rose as one when the mercurial I.M. Vijayan, came off the bench with 31 minutes left. That Vijayan and Bhutia are both in a different league was for all to see, as the UAE defence was left back pedalling then on.

UAE had nothing to show for its seven-month long preparatory camp. The desperation seemed to seep in at the slightest of pressure on the defence and the attacks were far from methodical. If the skillful Mohammed Omar M. Ahmed roved about in the box for half chances, it seldom came his way. And the halfline of the famed Abdul Salam Juma and his brother Abdul Raheem Juma - proved ineffective. Abdul Salam, in fact had to make way for a more adventurous Sultan Fahad Saeed in the second session.

On this day however coach Henri Michel's moves and methods proved least impressive against a side which was out to personify the power of patriotism, keeping well in mind the home advantage.

If there was one team in the entire first half, it was India. Though the right flank looked a wee bit suspect in curbing the rival moves, the flow of passes was steady and on two occassions looked menacing. Renedy Singh floated into the goalmouth on both times and if Jules Alberto's glancing header curled past Moutaz Abdulla in the UAE goal and the far post first, the second was hastily cleared by stopper Fahad Ali only to see his custodian make a diving effort to stop the ball which ricocheted off a darting Jo Paul Ancheri.

Saleh Ali and Omar found their efforts being kept away by an agile Virender Singh in the dying minutes of the first session to go into the break on even terms.

The second half saw UAE coming into their own though the rhythm was still missing. But for the home side if the pulling out of Jo Paul Ancheri three minutes into the session looked a bit surprising, Vijayan's entry in the 59th for R.C. Prakash was not.

And then on both the Indian stalwarts played a different chord to time and again hoodwink the defence, which resorted to stop-at- all-cost tactics. In the process referee Sun Baojie of PR China, who did a commendable job, had to book Yaser Saleh Ali, Jaleel Abdul Rahman and Mohd Qassim, all with `yellow cards'.

Bhaichung Bhutia too was hauled up for a blatant foul on rival custodian Moutaz. With Vijayan's entry, UAE defence now had the task of shadowing two strikers and this allowed the Indian midfielders to make deeper inroads. At it was one such move in the 74th minute that provided the desired results.

A Khalid Jamil throw-in into the goalmouth saw a harried Vijayan tip the ball over a defender for Jules Alberto to flick with his outstep into the far corner, much to the delight of his teammates and the crowd which erupted in unison.

Stung by the reverse, UAE attacked from both flanks but the dour and dogged Indian defence stood to its task appreciably.

The induction of Noel Wilson to bolster the backline also looked effective as the fresh pair of legs thwarted the rival forays with aplomb.

There was a touch of anxiety with time running out as Virender collected a rather feeble Mohd Omar shot on the second attempt.

Bhutia who all along had maintained that India had the potential to put it across it's rivals, provided the players started believing in themselves, was a much happy man at the end, and even did a lap of honour in appreciation of the crowd support.

lThe teams:

India: Virender Singh; Surkumar Singh, Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli, K.V. Dhanesh; Jules Alberto, Khalid Jamil, Jo Paul Ancheri (R.P. Singh), Renedy Singh; R.C. Prakash (I.M. Vijayan), Baichung Bhutia.

UAE: Moutaz Abdulla; Subait Khater, Humaid Fakher, Fahad Ali, Mohd Qassim Juma; Jaleel Abdul Rahman, Abdul Salam Juma (Sultan Fahad Saeed), Abdul Raheem Juma; Yaser Salem Saleh Ali (Saeed Al Kas), Mohd Ibrahim Hussain (Kazim Ali Abdulla), Mohd Omar M. Ahmed.

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