For Indian football, the honeymoon is over. On April 8, India upset mighty United Arab Emirates
(UAE) 1-0 in an Asian Zone group 8, World Cup qualifying match at Bangalore. It was India's fifth win in 18 matches in the
World Cup qualifiers. Also it was the first time that India had beaten a highly ranked side in the World Cup qualifiers.
When India triumphed at Bangalore, our FIFA ranking was 124 as compared to UAE's 64. Earlier India had twice beaten
Bangladesh 2-1 at Kolkata and Dhaka in the 1986 World Cup qualifiers, 3-1 versus Hong Kong in Seoul in 1993 and 2-0 against
Philippines in a World Cup qualifier in Qatar in September 1996. Also it was India's first win over UAE since the 1981
Merdeka tournament.
For a week, the Indian squad in Bangalore became super-stars and even Rahul Dravid came to their hotel to congratulate
and greet the footballers.
A week later, India missed several scoring chances and were held 1-1 by Yemen in a home match. Yemen were ranked 161 in
April 2001. However, their wily Brazilian coach Luciano De Abroue opted for a packed defence, tight marking of India's
skipper Baichung Bhutia and quick counter-attacks to come away with a creditable draw.
Then at Al Ain in UAE, India's World Cup campaign received a double blow. India not only lost 0-1 to UAE in the away
match but skipper Baichung Bhutia received a red card from the Malaysian referee Abdul Halim Ahmed. The Malaysian referee a
captain in the Malaysian Army gave Baichung marching orders for his second yellow card offence in the 52nd minute.
National coach Sukhwinder Singh felt the second yellow card, for a late challenge, was a little harsh. However Baichung's
problem has been adjusting from the more physical English game to Asian football.
Baichung himself says, "The game is more physical in the English second division." (Baichung is in his second season with
Bury F.C.). Asian referees clamp down on challenges that are often overlooked in the hurly-burly of English football. Now
India will miss Baichung in the next crucial away match against Yemen at Sanaa on May 4.
India now has four points from three matches and is third in the group, in which UAE is second with six points from the
same number of matches. Yemen is on top with seven points from three matches.
Overall India has now played 20 World Cup qualifying matches, won five, drawn six and lost nine, scored 19 and conceded
36 goals. India started taking part in the World Cup qualifiers only prior to the 1986 Mexico World Cup. Prior to that for
two decades, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with characteristic myopic inefficiency had not entered the national
team for World Cup qualifiers.
India's chances of progress to the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers are slim but coach Sukhwinder deserves plaudits
for organising a cohesive and spirited side. His choice of players was limited to just three from each club, because of the
ongoing National Football league. Also, despite repeated promises, there were no friendly matches before the tournament
commenced.
AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco is to be commended for introducing incentive payments. For the World Cup qualifying
campaign, each player in the squad will get a lump sum payment of Rs. 25,000. For the win against UAE, the 18 players on the
bench got Rs. 15,000 each as a bonus. Coach Sukhwinder Singh got Rs. 1 lakh, assistant coach Krishnaji Rao Rs. 60,000 and
goalkeeper's coach Brahmanand Rs. 50,000.
Stopper backs Deepak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli and debutant right back Sur Kumar Singh have impressed so far. Box-to-box
midfielders Khalid Jamil and R.P. Singh have also impressed with their work-rate, commitment and darting runs into space.
However, Sukhwinder's insistence on playing K.V. Dhanesh instead of a now-fit Rattan Singh as left back is mysterious.
Dhanesh is slower and was caught out of position when Yemen shot ahead in the 43rd minute in Bangalore.
Also, Sukhwinder's defensive approach against Yemen when he did not use attacking players like S. Venkatesh or Alvito
D'Cunha instead of the tiring Jules Alberto or Renedy Singh may prove costly. The promise is there, but more international
exposure and development programmes are needed, for a single swallow does not make a summer.
by Novy Kapadia
appeared in indya.com February 2001