Date:27/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/27/stories/2008052755841800.htm

Sport - Football

India will try to end on a winning note

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

GETTING READY: Indian captain Baichung Bhutia (right) along with his teammates at a training session on Monday.

CHENNAI: Indian football faces quite a few tough assignments. There is the SAFF Cup, the tour of Portugal and the AFC Challengers Cup that will test the team’s mettle. So, the team cannot afford to cool off.

After beating Chinese Taipei 3-0 in Goa in the first match, the host will be keen to end the two-match series on a winning note at the Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.

The team will miss Climax Lawrence who has been ruled out due to the ankle injury he suffered in Goa.

Fighting abilities

Though India won the first match, there were signs of Chinese Taipei’s fighting abilities in the first half. In the hot and humid conditions (the match began at 4.30 p.m.), it didn’t allow India to score any goals in the first session despite India having many chances.

“We are not taking them lightly. It’s a growing team like us. We have prepared extremely well. We are confident of a win,” said the Indian captain Bhutia.

The Chinese coach Lee Po-Houng said that his team has come here after finishing the local league. He further said the humid conditions had affected the players but said the team would fight to the finish.

The match will start at 5.30 p.m. under floodlights.

The teams (from):

India: Subrata Paul, Subhashish R Choudhary, Sur Kumar Singh, Mahesh Gawli, Gurmangi Singh, Deepak Mondal, N. Manju, Anwar, Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep, Mehraj Wadoo, Renedy Singh, Baldip Singh, Manjit Singh, Bungo Singh, Sayed Rahim Nabi, Ajayan, Kattimani, Baichung Bhutia, Sunil Chetri, Sushil Singh, Tarif Ahmed, Abhishek Yadav.

Chinese Taipei: Lu Kun-Chi, Tu Ming-Feng, Lin Kuei Pin, Kuo Chun-Yi, Hsu Che-Hao, Liang Chien-Wei, Chang Han, Chen Po-Liang, Chuang Wei-Lun, Chiang Shih-Lu, Hsiesh Meng-Hsuan, Yeh Hsien-Chung, Chiang Ming-Han, Hsu Hsiang-Yu, Kao Hao-Chieh, Chang Wu-Yeh, Hung Shih-Cheng, Chen Yi-Wei, Chen Meng-Hsien, Chen Shan-Fu.