Football team hoping to maintain winning run

A confident India will be keen to extend their winning run when they take on Turkmenistan in a crucial Group C football league match at the Asian Games in Yangsan on Monday.

The Indians recovered from a sluggish start to thrash Bangladesh 3-0 in their opening match and desperately need another victory tomorrow to keep their hopes of making it to the quarter-final stage alive.

Although the Indians were far from impressive in the first match despite the handsome victory margin, new coach Stephen Constantine is confident that his team will manage to put it across Turkmenistan.

"We played good football for about 25 minutes only in the first match against Bangladesh. We have to be more consistent and play well for all the 90 minutes," Constantine said.

The Indians have to guard against complacency as Turkmenistan, who were drubbed 4-0 by strong contenders China in their first match, have a number of talented players in their ranks and can spring a surprise on their day.

"We are not taking them lightly. You have to play well in all the matches, so there is no question of taking anybody lightly," the coach said.

The Indians will be handicapped to a great extent by the absence of defender Deepak Mondal, who has to sit out of the match because of a controversial red card booking in the opener.

Mondal, one of the most promising players and a key figure in the transformation of the team, was given marching orders by Omanian referee Al Harassi Rashid in the dying minutes of the match against Bangladesh for a 'rough' tackle, which the Indians said was a harsh decision.

In fact, coach Constantine was so annoyed with the player's dismissal that he was seen arguing with the referee after the match.

The last time India won a gold medal in the football event was way back at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1962. India had also won a gold medal in the first edition of the Games in New Delhi in 1951.

With a number of strong teams like hosts South Korea, Japan, China and Uzbekistan in the fray, the Indians are aiming to qualify to the quarter-finals at least as one of the best two second-placed teams in the 24-nation championship.

The top teams in each of the six groups plus the two best second-placed teams will make it to the last eight stage.

The Indians have done their home work for tomorrow's match, as technical director of the team and former national coach Sukhwinder Singh watched Turkmenistan's first match against China, and will go all out for a big victory.

"They do not look to be as strong a team. We should be able to beat them if we play well," Sukhwinder said.

As usual, the Indians depend heavily on star striker Baichung Bhutia to deliver the goods upfront. Rajat Ghosh Dasdidar appeared be to quite tidy under the bar in the first match against Bangladesh but the defence, in the absence of Mondal, could be tested.

Satish Bharti, Debjit Ghosh and S Venkatesh will have to pull up their socks to tighten the defence.

The experience of Jo Paul Ancheri will also come handy in the midfield where Tomba Singh and Bijen Singh have been quite impressive in recent tounaments.