Jan. 12: Talismanic captain Baichung Bhutia will sit out of India’s second Asian Cup match against Bahrain as he is yet to be fully fit, and coach Bob Houghton will also rest some players who played in the opener against Australia. Houghton said Bhutia, who also missed the opening match against Australia, may play in India’s third and final Group C game against South Korea on January 18. “There is no chance of Baichung playing against Bahrain. He may play in the match against South Korea,” Houghton said.
Bhutia did not take part in the training session at the Al Wakra facilities at the outskirts of the city on the day, while his teammates had a one-hour work-out. Houghton said that he would rest some players who played against Australia so that they are not tired for the South Korea tie. “It is difficult for almost the same set of boys to play in three matches. So we are giving rest to some boys and making the changes. We need fresh legs for the South Korea match,” he said.
“I saw the video (of the first match) and the players ran about 10 to 11 km, which is about thrice the distance the players run in an I-League match. It’s an awful lot of running and it takes a toll. If you see the injuries we have had, most of them have been muscle which is primarily down to the intensity of the training,” he said.
The 63-year-old Englishman said he, along with the team, have watched video footage of the matches Bahrain played recently.