Indian footballers face daunting task

Buoyed by the improved performance in recent tournaments, India will be far more determined to make a significant impact in the football event of the 14th Asian Games though winning a medal looks quite remote.

With strong teams like hosts South Korea, Japan, China and defending champions Iran in the fray, the new-look Indian team under English coach Stephen Constantine will face its first major test and it remains to be seen whether they are capable of upsetting many an applecart.

Constantine has managed to instill a sense of purpose and discipline in the team and the results have started to show as the Indians have done reasonably well in recent international matches.

Clubbed in Group C alongwith China, Turkmenistan and Bangladesh, the Indians face a daunting task to qualify for the quarter-final stage of the event, which promises some thrilling battles of skill and nerves.

Desperate to break the medal drought, the Indians will open their campaign against neighbours Bangladesh on September 27, two days ahead of the official opening ceremony of the Games.

Twenty-four 24 teams will be vying for top honour in the championship, which will be played at five different venues. Iran had won the coveted gold medal at the last Asian Games in Bangkok, defeating Kuwait 2-0 in the final.

Constantine, who took over as the coach of the national team about two months back, has made the young team believe in their abilities while working on endurance and skill.

"I don't have a magic wand to change things overnight. It will take some time. You have to be patient," Constantine had said after taking over the job.

Although football followers have been patient for many years now with one coach after another coming and going, Constantine has apparently gelled well with the boys and that has been the key to the recent upswing in performance.

The title victory in the six-nation LG Cup in Vietnam in August has served as a big confidence-booster for the Indians who have struggled to win a title in lower grade international meets also.

The team, led by Baichung Bhutia, which reached the port city of Busan a few days early to get acclimatised to the conditions, has featured in a few exposure trips to prepare for the Games.

After their success in Vietnam, the Indians played two matches against Jamaica in England and then played two more friendly matches against Uzbekistan at home to fine-tune their game ahead the sporting extravaganza.

The last time India won a medal was in the 1962 Games in Jakarta where it won gold thanks to the brilliant efforts of P K Banerjee and Jarnail Singh, who scored in the 2-1 victory over South Korea. But since then, no medal of any hue has come their way.