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The flood lights have illuminated Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium every evening in New Delhi since the 22nd. The matches have been eventful-some more so than the others. Rain, humidity and the quality of football have been the three inter-dependent variables in the Nehru Cup this year. The 7th evening promises to add a new component.
India will look to mathematically eliminate Nepal on Tuesday in a much awaited fixture by the fans of both the teams. Noise levels are expected to touch the sky for this one and the stadium is supposed to be filled with a sizable amount of colorful fans of both the teams with a sort of a sparkling rivalry, considering the close relations and similarities between the two nations and their respective cultures. The home team is in a much better position to grab all 3 points and look superior on paper and form.
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India has had a splendid start to the campaign under Wim Koevermans who has organized the team in a very efficient manner. “The key is to have an extra man in the midfield”, the Dutchman said in a conversation after a few days of taking over back in the starting of the summer. This statement rung repeatedly in every footballing brain which followed the blue tigers first two games under his tenure.
The 4-4-1-1 formation which is deployed by him, with Francisco playing in the hole, Lenny and Mehtab playing at the heart of the midfield, has been unchanged for the first two games. Jewel Raja, Alwyn George and Manandeep Singh have been unused till now and one of those might be given a run out this time around. It will be interesting to see if Robin Singh will get a chance to flex his muscles on the Nepalese defenders, especially after his physical dominance against Maldives in the second half of the previous game, when he came on. Sunil Chhetri will look to increase his goal tally in front of a leaky defence of the opponent, which has let in 7 goals in 2 games. The Indian back four has done enough till now to ensure victories for the team and it will take something special from Nepal to beat Subrata and co.
On the other hand, Nepal have been the shadow of the team which was coached by Graham Roberts earlier this year. Goalkeeper Ritesh Thapa has had a tournament to forget with an array of fumbles and soft goals and his inclusion in the starting eleven is not confirmed for the third game.
Krishna Thapa, the head coach of Nepal aims to avoid defeat against India. Speaking to the media in the aftermath of the 5-0 hiding given by Cameroon, he insisted that the game against India will not be a forgone conclusion. Nepalese striker Jumanu Rai will look to add a second goal in this tournament after he netted in the closing stages against Maldives.
An under confident defence is always the successor of shaky goalkeeping. This has been the case for Nepal and India will look to make the most of it. Krishna’s men have no real hopes of reaching the finals and will have nothing to lose and this may play in their advantage if the Indians take the game lightly.
Head To Head :
Games played 12
India 10
Draw 1
Nepal 1
Last Five Meetings:
India(Under 23) 1-0 Nepal (SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP 2009)
India 4-0 Nepal(SAFF 2008))
India(Under 20) 0-3 Nepal (AFC CHALLENGE CUP 2006)
India 2-1 Nepal (SAFF 2005)
India 4-0 Nepal (SAFF 1999)
