Three cheers for Indian football team and national coach Bob Houghton. India beat Syria 6-5 by way of penalty shoot out after Syria managed a last gasp equalizer minutes before the end of 120 minutes. India had earlier taken the lead, courtesy of a brilliant curling Beckhamish free kick by Renedy Singh. India should have won in normal playing time and should never have allowed Syria back into the game. But I guess that's part of the learning curve and it added more drama to the proceedings. A special mention of the Delhi crowd at the Ambedkar stadium which boosted and truly acted as the twelfth man.
India completed a hat trick of Nehru cup victories, inflicting yet another finals defeat on favourites Syria. Just for the record before the start of the tournament, Syria's FIFA world ranking was 95 as compared to India's 156. They were obviously overwhelming favourites to win the cup. But credit to Bob Houghton and his boys for working their socks off whilst touring Dubai and Barcelona for the pre tournament training. One thing that was instantly noticeable was the teams overall fitness levels which were incredibly high. Even after 120 minutes of energy sapping football in the Delhi heat our footballers looked supremely fit. And this was one of the biggest reasons for for our success.
A special compliments to the Indian back four of Surkumar, Gouramangi, Anwar and Mahesh Gawli who were very solid and disciplined throughout the tournament and perhaps the man of the tournament for India, Subrata Paul. He was absolutely brilliant in the finals. Although there was very little he could have done to save the Syrian equalizer, he was in his element in the penalty shoot out. Indulging in Lehmann like gamesmanship before each penalty he did manage to Psyche out 3 of the Syrian shot stoppers to effect the cup winning saves. In fact he has reached a stage where with a bit of luck he could ply his trade at an international stage.
Finally, that man Houghton himself. Any praise for him would be less. If you remember the last blog where I discussed his trials and tribulations dealing with the AIFF and local footballing bodies. He has managed to overcome every obstacle and have things his way on his terms and conditions. After this victory (btw India has jumped up 7 places in the FIFA world ranking) we have every reason to look forward optimistically to the 2011 Asian football tourney. Maybe India's participation in World cup 2018 or 2022 could be a reality !!!
