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Sportskeeda continues this new series by looking back at India’s performance in the 2002 edition.
Squad
Goalkeepers: 1-Rajat Ghosh Dastidar (Mohun Bagan AC), 20-Sangram Mukherjee (East Bengal Club), 21-Nasim Akhtar (Mahindra United).
Defenders: 3-Satish Kumar Bharti (Mohun Bagan AC), 4-Debjit Ghosh (Mohun Bagan AC), 14-Mahesh Gawli (Churchill Brothers SC), 16-Samir Naik (Dempo SC), 17-Deepak Kumar Mandal (East Bengal Club), 20-Manitombi Singh (Salgaocar SC).
Midfielders: 6-Shanmugam Venkatesh (East Bengal Club), 7-Tomba Wangkheirakpam Singh (Salgaocar SC), 8-Renedy Singh (Mohun Bagan AC), 11-Jo Paul Ancheri (JCT Mills), 18-Krishnan Nair Ajayan (Kerala).
Forwards: 9-Abhishek Yadav (Mahindra United), 10-Bijen Singh (Dempo SC), 12-Alex Mario Ambrose (Salgaocar SC), 15-Baichung Bhutia (Mohun Bagan AC - Captain), 19-Parveen Kumar (Punjab Police).
Coach: Stephen Constantine (England); Technical Director: Sukhwinder Singh (Punjab); Assistant Coach: Aloke Mukherjee (Bengal); Project Director: Santo Mitra (Bengal)
Overview
Just like in the Olympics, the football tournament of the Asian Games became an under-23 tournament from this edition although each team were allowed three overage players. Englishman Stephen Constantine was in charge of India and the team got a lot of international exposure for the preparations, winning an invitational tournament in Vietnam. 24 nations participated and were divided into six groups of four teams each. The group winners and two best second-placed teams would progress to the quarters.
India were drawn alongside Bangladesh, Turkmenistan and China. Constantine’s boys were expected to beat neighbours Bangladesh in the opener and they did just that, winning 3-0 with skipper Bhaichung Bhutia bagging a brace and midfielder Renedy Singh netting the other. Up next was Turkmenistan and India were seeking revenge, having narrowly lost to the Central Asian outfit in 1998. The early signs were not good as India trailed at half time.
But Bhaichung led from the front and equalised after the interval while young Abhishek Yadav gave them the lead. Bhaichung ensured the three points by netting the third to make it four goals in two games as India won 3-1. China were overwhelming favourites in the final group game but they only won 2-0 as India put up a fighting display. India were runners-up in the group but only fourth among the six group second-placed teams and thus missed out a quarter-final berth. Thus it was another early exit for India but they returned home with their heads held high with Bhaichung living up to the high expectations.
Novy Kapadia’s Insight
India, coached by Stephen Constantine and with experienced Sukhwinder Singh as technical director, had a balanced team. They chose defender Debjit Ghosh, midfielder Jo Paul Ancheri and skipper star striker Bhaichung Bhutia as the three seniors
With Mahesh Gawli and Depak Mondal in defence and S. Venkatesh and Renedy Singh in midfield this was a very balanced and harmonious Indian team. This was evident in the results in the group stage
India comfortably beat Bangladesh 3-0 and Turkmenistan 3-1. In both matches Bhaichung scored a brace and became the first Indian since PK Banerjee to score four goals in a single Asian Games. Renedy also excelled in these Asian Games with his work rate and distribution. Burly Abhishek Yadav was the perfect target man and provided the assists for Bhaichung.
India performed creditably at these Asian Games and was unlucky to lose to China 0-2 in their last group and thus finished second in their group. It may be recalled that China had qualified for the 2002 World cup finals and was a formidable team that year.
Results
Group Stage:
September 27 2002: India 3-0 Bangladesh – Indian scorers: Bhaichung Bhutia (46', 65'), Renedy Singh (66')
September 30 2002: India 3-1 Turkmenistan – Indian scorers: Bhaichung Bhutia (54', 78'), Abhishek Yadav (57')
October 3 2002: India 0-2 China
Final position: Eliminated from the group stage
