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On Wednesday evening, the JLN stadium in New Delhi will witness the kick-off of the Nehru Cup 2012 in a replay of the final of the previous two editions. Flood lights will be gracing the two teams who have have produced two intense finals at the Ambedkar Stadium with the home team coming on top on both the occassions.
India have been training hard and the boys have given their 100%, according to Wim Koevermans (Head Coach). Tipped to be the most important game of the tournament for both India and Syria, this match will pave the way for both the teams for the rest of the tournament. “If you ask about my opinion on the tournament favourites, I’d say India!”, proclaimed the head coach of the Blue Tigers. Preparations have been great in Jaypee Greens, Greater Noida according to the Dutch man and Sunil Chettri has backed him up on this. Koevermans has reportedly watched a DVD of the opposition’s tactics, and has showed it to the team members.
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India are tipped to start with a 4-4-1-1 formation, but flexibility and style of play is the priority for the Dutch man. It will be interesting to see the change in the team since the debacle in the Challenge Cup in Nepal. History goes out of the window and professionals only focus on the present game, according to the Indian captain. “There’s no point about thinking of the past, success or failure”, claimed Chettri, referring to the Nehru cup finals of 2007 and 2009 and the disappointment in Kathmandu. Dismissing all talks about the transition of the chemistry between himself, Bhaichung, Jeje and the present set of players, Sunil insisted that the most important thing for the team is to understand the plan designed by the coach.
Syria will not be an easy task on any given day but the Blue tigers are focussed on themselves according to the skipper. “They are one of the most improved teams in Asia but our focus is on ourselves and delivering what the coach wants”. The West Asian giants, amidst all the political turmoil in their own country, have always been keen to participate in this tournament. The Syrian squad consists of a mixture of old and new players and will be waiting for their game to kick off in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Wednesday. Ranked at 147 in comparison to India’s 168, the real picture is different, since a 1 year ban by FIFA disallowed Syria from playing any games for that period.
The change of venue will give a new face to this tournament after the magic of the Ambedkar stadium for the home team in the previous two editions. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi has a capacity of 60,00, which is more than double that of the former venue. Sunil had this to say on the topic,“Ambedkar stadium is close to my heart and the I hope we have more spectators in the new venue which is much larger. The team’s confidence increases in when we have the backing of the crowd and makes it much more special.”
