13th Asian Games - Men's Football Tournament - Bangkok, Thailand

The INDIAN Team
21-Hemanta Dora Goalkeeper Mohun Bagan AC
01-Juje Siddi Goalkeeper Salgaocar SC
__-Feroze Shariff Goalkeeper State Bank of Travancore
04-Roberto Fernandes Defender Salgaocar SC
20-Jiju Jacob Defender State Bank of Travancore
0_-Franky Barreto Defender East Bengal Club
0_-K.V. Dhanesh Defender FC Kochin
16-Anit Ghosh Defender East Bengal Club
__-Debjit Ghosh Midfielder Mohun Bagan AC
__-Shamshi Raza Midfielder Mahindra&Mahindra
__-Carlton Chapman Midfielder East Bengal Club
__-Basudeb Mondal Midfielder East Bengal Club
__-Shanmugam Venkatesh Midfielder Salgaocar SC
__-Tushar Rakshit Midfielder East Bengal Club
11-Jo Paul Ancheri Midfielder Mohun Bagan AC
10-I.M. Vijayan [Captain] Forward Mohun Bagan AC
12-Syed Shabir Pasha Forward Indian Bank
15-Baichung Bhutia Forward East Bengal Club
09-Raman Vijayan Forward East Bengal Club
__-Abdul Khalique Forward Bengal Mumbai FC
Syed Nayeemuddin Coach
Gabriel Joseph Assisstant Coach
Chuni Goswami Team Manager
Dipti Kumar Ghosh Physiotherapist
PRELIMINARY GROUPC
TEAM P W D L GF:GA PTS
1. Japan 2 2 0 0 6:0 6
2. India 2 1 0 1 1:1 3
3. Nepal 2 0 0 2 0:6 0
 Japan and India make the second round league.
01-Dec-98   [4] Trang 15:30 Nepal  vs  Japan
5:0
03-Dec-98   [12] Trang 15:30 Japan  vs  India
1:0
05-Dec-98   [19] Trang 15:30 India  vs  Nepal
1:0
December 3 - Group C: India 0-1 Japan - goal: 0-1 Kenji Fukinda (55').
Twice champions India played their hearts out and matched a youthful Japan on numerous occasions before going down by a solitary second-half goal in their opening Group C preliminary football league outing at the Asian Games. Playing with good understanding and stitching their own moves through the impressive striker Baichung Bhutia upfront, India held their superior rivals goalless in the first half before Kenji Fukinda struck the winner for Japan in the 55th minute of the absorbing contest at the main stadium in Trang. India, returning to Asian Games after 12 years and with modest ambitions, played far better than expected with a well functioning defence managing to thwart the speedy Japanese forwards on many occasions. Japan, one of the strong contenders for the title after their country's impressive run in reaching the World Cup finals in France, could not dominate the way they did while thrashing Nepal. The Japanese side, comprising U21 players, posted their second straight win in the three-team group to top the pool and move into the next round while India can look forward to beating Nepal when they clash in the final Group C match on Dec5 at the same venue. Coach Nayeemuddin's tactics of tightening the defence with the midfielders falling back in support helped India hold their rivals at bay. Captain IM Vijayan mostly played in a midfield role and the skillful Bhutia sparkled with his dribbles and body feints which saw two Japanese defenders earn the yellow card for clumsy fouls on him. India started with first choice goalkeeper Hemanta Dora, after the latter was not certain to even make the trip as he was nursing a knee injury, and the diminutive Dora came up with assured collections in the first half. India, who held a 3-3 head to head record against Japan going into the match, looked like they would take a point off the match. But Japan went ahead in the 55.minute through a quick move down the right, Fukinda shaking off his marker by darting in to meet a header on to his path and beating Dora with a first time left-footer. India, who last played in the Asian Games'86 and were reluctantly cleared at no cost to government going by their world ranking of 127, also had their moments. Bhutia almost equalled twice, on the first occasion Basudeb Mondal split two defenders on the left wing and centred, but the Indian striker was just beaten to the ball by the advancing Minami. Vijayan, playing a withdrawn role, then played a sharp one-two with Bhutia, but his final try into the box was neither directed straight to the goal nor fed into the path of Bhutia with only the goalkeeper to beat. Bhutia almost paved the way for a goal when Japanese defender Miyamoto fouled him to the right of the penalty box. But Vijayan's free-kick went well over the bar.
India: Hemanta Dora, Roberto Fernandes, Franky Baretto, Jiju Jacob, Debjit Ghosh, KV Dhanesh, Anit Ghosh (S Venkatesh), Carlton Chapman, Basudev Mondal, Baichung Bhutia, IM Vijayan [C].
December 5 - Group C: India 1-0 Nepal - goal:1-0 Carlton Chapman (46').
A goal by Carlton Chapman, in the opening minute of the second half, helped India edge Nepal 1-0 and make it to the second stage of the Asian Games football championship at Trang. Japan, with a clean record, and India, with a one-win-one-loss account, have qualified from Group C of the preliminary league. In a match played almost throughout in pouring rain, India was under pressure in the first half, but came back strongly in the second after a shuffling of the line-up. The desired thrust having been achieved with IM Vijayan joining Baichung Bhutia upfront, after having functioned in the midfield, India should have retired a comfortable winner but for the familiar story of bad misses. It was Bhutia who set the ball up for Chapman, a long through ball from the middle that split the defence for Chapman to chase and beat the charging goalkeeper with a deft placement from a difficult angle on the right. Two defenders tried in vain to retrieve the ball as it crossed the line.
India should have sewn up the match within the next 15 minutes, but Vijayan's brilliant header off a Tushar Rakshit cross found the bar and then Bhutia slipped and recovered to send a right-footer over the bar off a Roberto Fernandes pass. Rakshit, brought in as a substitute in the second half, in place of Raman Vijayan, who partnered Bhutia in the striking department in the first half, adapted to the slushy, slippery conditions well to initiate a few good moves. But he was guilty of messing up a chance after dribbling past a defender. Vijayan then had a fine effort saved on the line and before the end he saw another of his better attempts being saved by the goalkeeper. He was denied by the goalkeeper in the first half, too, off a deceptively place free kick, the best chance for India. Nepal looked the better side in attack in the first half, but it too missed chances. Goalkeeper Hemanta Dora also contributed his mite towards denying the Nepalese.
India have been placed with defending champions Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and North Korea in Group I of the last 16 league stage. India now take on Turkmenistan in their opening second round match at Suphachalasai Stadium on Dec.7 and then meet Uzbekistan on Dec.9 at the same venue before clashing against North Korea on Dec.11.
India: Hemanta Dora, Roberto Fernandes, Franky Baretto, Jiju Jacob, Debjit Ghosh, KV Dhanesh, Carlton Chapman, Basudev Mondal, IM Vijayan [C], Baichung Bhutia, Raman Vijayan (Tushar Rakshit).
PRE-QUARTERFINAL GROUP 1
TEAM P W D L GF:GA PTS
1. Uzbekistan 3 2 1 0 7:1 7
2. Turkmenistan 3 1 2 0 4:3 5
3. North Korea 3 1 1 1 3:5 4
4. India 3 0 0 3 2:7 0
07-Dec-98   [23] Suphachalasai 15:00 Turkmenistan vs India 3:2
07-Dec-98   [24] Suphachalasai 17:00 North Korea vs Uzbekistan 0:4
09-Dec-98   [31] Suphachalasai 15:00 North Korea vs Turkmenistan 1:1
09-Dec-98   [32] Suphachalasai 17:00 India vs Uzbekistan 0:2
11-Dec-98   [39] Suphachalasai 15:00 India vs North Korea 0:2
11-Dec-98   [40] Suphachalasai 17:00 Uzbekistan vs Turkmenistan 1:1
December 7 - Group I: India 2-3 Turkmenistan - goals: 0:1 Nejelev Dmitry (39'), 0:2 Agaev Muslim (49'), 0:3 Igor Kislov (74'), 1:3 IM Vijayan (83'), 2:3 Tushar Rakshit (87').
India fought an equal battle in the first half and made a superb rally late in the second half when trailing 0-3 before going down 2-3 to title aspirants Turkmenistan in their opening GroupI second-round men's football clash in the 13th Asian Games. Buoyed by their fighting display in making it to the second round, India showed lot of cohesion and even came close to scoring through mercurial striker Baichung Bhutia before losing steam in the second session to be hopelessly down 0-3 with only seven minutes left. But captain IM Vijayan (83') and Tushar Rakshit (87') etched their names in the Asian Games books by stunning their opponents with goals in the space of four minutes at the fag end as India, who were 0-1 behind at half-time, came away with their heads held high despite the loss. Nejelev Dmitry gave Turkmenistan the lead in the 39.minute lead off a defence lapse, Agaev Muslim (49') made it 2-0. The lanky Igor Kislov headed in the third from close range in the 74.minute, pointing to a rout. But Vijayan, who chested and slammed home a Chapman diagonal cross from right, and Rakshit, who pulled wide of goalkeeper Korobko after Bhutia had sped into the box and laid the ball on to him. The goals gave much for the Indian squad to feel proud about. India take on defending champions Uzbekistan in their second league match on Dec.9. India had lost&drawn two warm-up matches against the Uzbeks at home recently.
India: Hemanta Dora, Jiju Jacob (Jo Paul Ancheri), Roberto Fernandes, Franky Baretto, KV Dhanesh, Venkatesh (Tushar Rakshit), Carlton Chapman, Basudev Mondal, Debjit Ghosh, IM Vijayan, Baichung Bhutia.
December 9 - Group I: India 0-2 Uzbekistan - goals: 0:1 Shkvyrin (34'), 0:2 Shuhratlon (50').
India went down with its guns blazing. But it was not given a fair adieu by referee Ahmad Ali of the UAE. The 0-2 defeat against the defending champion Uzbekistan in the group I second stage league match put India out of the race for the quarterfinal slots of the Asian Games football championship at the Suphachalasai Stadium. For a team given little chance to put up a decent fight in the championship, India turned in a brave show against a superior side. It was done in by the referee's decision to allow a goal in the 34.minute, following a free kick, after he had blown when the free kick was floated. Goalkeeper Hemanta Dora, till then the rock in the Indian defence with a series of brilliant saves, allowed the ball to go in, thinking that an offside decision was ruled. He was flabbergasted when the referee pointed towards the goal. He and several others players surrounded the referee in protest, but in vain. Dora received a yellow card then. He got another one in the second half, when he brought down Andre Akopyants in an effort to tackle him. It had to be a red since the yellow had doubled and Feroze Sheriff was brought in pulling Carlton Chapman out, to take Dora's place under the bar. No amount of praise would be sufficient for Dora's display this day. A man who was all but ruled out before the team set out, because of a knee injury, had been the star in earlier matches too. But today he was splendid, as he kept away the marauding Uzbeks early in the match. India, falling back in strength in the initial stages, shed its defensive armour and opened up by the midway mark in the first half and looked quite capable of repairing the damage caused by Igor Shkvyrin, Uzbekistan's top scorer at the Hiroshima Asiad. The tall striker managed to get his head to a floater of a free kick from Mirdjalal Kasimov. The referee had blown the whistle as Kasimov played the ball. The decision baffled all around, Indian team manager, Chuni Goswami was agitated, not to speak of the small band of Indian supporters including the Indian tennis team led by Mahesh Bhupathi. But then the decision stood and India went further down early in the second half when a 35-yarder from Rahnionkulov Shuhratlon beat Dora. With Jo Paul Ancheri, a little rusty at left half but full of use in the midfield, carrying out a few thrusts and IM Vijayan and Baichung Bhutia combining effectively, India called the shots for long spells. In a five-minute spell, Bhutia, Chapman and Vijayan all missed golden chances. Vijayan found the bar next and then Tushar Rakshit's shot off a Bhutia pass was deflected. The late red card for Dora brought a penalty also in its wake but Sheriff did not have to do anything as Kasimov shot over from the spot. India plays North Korea in its last league match on Dec11. With two defeats and out of the qualification race, it can only look forward to continuing its good fight amidst the mediocre performances put in by Indians elsewhere in these Games.
India: Hemanta Dora, Jiju Jacob, Roberto Fernandes, Franky Baretto, KV Dhanesh, S Venkatesh, Carlton Chapman (GK: Feroze Shariff), Tushar Rakshit, Jo Paul Ancheri, IM Vijayan, Baichung Bhutia.
Yellow-Red Card: Hemanta Dora (80', foul).
December 11 - Group I: India 0-2 North Korea - goals: 0:1 So Min-Chol (13'), 0:2 Ju Song-Il (73').
The story was all too familiar; the actors, too. India once again did enough to earn at least a draw but went down 0-2 to North Korea in its last Group I second stage league match of the Asian Games football championship at the Suphachalsai Stadium. India finished with an all-loss record in the second phase, but overall it was not a disappointing foray into the Games arena after a a lapse of 12 years by the IM Vijayan-led side. The victory mattered little to the North Koreans in the eventual analysis as later, in the second match of the group at the same stadium, Turkmenistan held group leader and defending champion Uzbekistan to a 1-1 draw to make the last-eight grade. Uzbekistan topped the group with two wins and the draw, Turkmenistan had two draws and the victory against India and North Korea had one win, a draw and a loss. The North Korean pace and early attacks suggested a meek surrender by India, but as had been the case throughout the second phase, the team came back strongly, though without getting in the all-important goal. Once the North Koreans struck the second goal, much against the run of play in the 28.minute of the second half, the fight seemed to have gone out of the Indian team. The shifting of Jo Paul Ancheri into the midfield, from his left-back position and much later to the striking area, gave the team some additional thrust upfront. Baichung Bhutia, disinterested for the most part in the first half when he tended to wander around aimlessly, harried the rival defence in his inimitable style in the second, running into open spaces and laying some splendid passes, which, alas, the others could not make use of. Vijayan looked to have accepted the inevitable and the futility of it all in the early part of the match itself. He did contribute to the overall improvement in the second half but the hunger was missing in him. Yet, had Jo Paul Ancheri grabbed the two chances that Bhutia set up for him in quick succession in the second half, there could have been a couple of goals against India's name on the electronic scoreboard, without the timer. First, Bhutia split the defence with a magnificent through ball which Ancheri trapped on the run to be confronted by just the goalkeeper, Pak Kyong-Chol. The versatile Thrissur man shot straight into the goalkeeper's hands. Then, Bhutia provided him with another gem, off a move initiated by Carlton Chapman. Ancheri could not beat the goalkeeper again. Ancheri had found the goalkeeper unrelenting in the first half, too, when his first-timer off a short backpass from Bhutia was saved. When Bhutia himself tried a brilliant header off a cross from Tushar Rakshit, who came in for Anit Ghosh in the second half, Pak Kyong-Chul was equal to the task. It had to be either Ancheri or Bhutia and with both having been denied by the goalkeeper, there was none to keep up the challenge. The defence, at least in the early part of the match, looked at odds, quite unlike the previous days when it had weathered tougher storms. The North Koreans moved at tremendous speed, inter-changed positions fluently and took their shots early, though many were of the wild variety. The bar came to India's rescue once and Feroze Sheriff, forced to take over the job in the absence of Hemanta Dora, who had to sit out due to that red card in the match against Uzbekistan, did a reasonably good job to prevent a heavier defeat. Sheriff is no patch on Dora and that showed in the approach of the defenders. The North Korean goals were by So Min-Chol, in the 13.minute, when Chapman, hard working and purposeful in the midfield, in order to clear the ball after Ancheri blocked a rival thrust, tried to pass it to Vijayan. The ball was intercepted by So Min- Choi and crashed home from the top of the box. Shariff was a spectator. Shariff was stranded in the 28.minute of the second half as he moved to check Kim Jin-Guk only to find the latter pass the ball to an unmarked, better-placed Ju Song-Il, who had to just toe into an empty net. Roberto Fernandes' belated tackle was of no use.
India: Feroze Shariff, Jo Paul Ancheri, Jiju Jacob, Robert Fernandes, Franky Baretto, KV Dhanesh; Basudev Mondal (S Venkatesh), Carlton Chapman, Anit Ghosh (Tushar Rakshit); IM Vijayan, Baichung Bhutia.

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