This is the best Indian team to play pre-Olympics
Since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the football tournament has become a U-23 year’s event. In the last two decades in the U-23 pre-Olympics competition, India have won just five matches. In October 1995, India twice beat Pakistan (2-1 in Peshawar and 3-1 in Margao) and in March 2003, beat Turkmenistan 1-0 in Goa.
Subrata Paul’s heroics enabled India oust Myanmar 4-1 on penalties in February 2007, after both home and away leg ties ended in 1-1 draws. Four years later with nine players from the newly-formed Indian Arrows outfit India again beat Myanmar 2-1 in Pune to advance to the second round of the pre-Olympics. Now India take on mighty Qatar in Doha on Jun 19 with the return leg in Pune on June 23.
India’s overall record in the pre-Olympics is average with five wins, 12 losses, five draws in 22 matches and 21 goals scored and 31 conceded.
Except for the win in Peshawar, the other triumphs in the pre-Olympics have been on home soil.
So India face an uphill task against Qatar. Till now India U-23 have not beaten a considerably higher ranked team ranked team in the pre-Olympics.
The only cause for hope is that the current Indian squad, coached by Desmond Bulpin, have the big match temperament as a bulk of the players are from Indian Arrows, who finished a creditable ninth in the I-League. They are the best trained Indian team to have ever taken part in the pre-Olympics.
If the burden of expectations does not affect them, a gallant show is expected against fancied Qatar. Much will depend on ace striker Jeje Lalpekhlua, the top Indian scorer in the I-League with 13 goals, long throw expert, captain and central defender Raju Gaikwad and midfielders Sheikh Jewel Raja and Shilton D’Silva.
In all, eight players from the pre-Olympics squad will join the senior national team probables for the World Cup qualifier against United Arab Emirates next month.
Never before have so many U-23 years players been roped into the senior squad.
New national coach Armando Colaco has categorically said that the nucleus of the senior team will be the Indian Arrows players.
It is however to be seen how quickly these younger players adapt to a different style of playing when they join the senior squad.
Bulpin, the Indian Arrows and pre-Olympics coach, favours the long ball, quick penetration and attacks from the flanks. Colaco has stressed that he wants India to play the Dempo way, with lots of possession football.
At his practice sessions in Delhi he is trying to imbibe the virtues of possession football to the senior probables. A clash of styles has now emerged in Indian football. It did not exist for the last five years as Bob Houghton was the national coach and there was continuity in style of play. The age-group national teams under British coaches now play a different style of football.
The players from the pre-Olympics squad will have to adapt quickly to the Dempo way of playing as Armando intends to finalise his squad for the World Cup qualifiers by the second week of July.
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