Bhutia to lead India in AFC Asian Cup

Baichung Bhutia will make a comeback to international football as the Indian captain. Bhutia will lead the Indian team in the AFC Asian Cup qualifying match against Saudi Arabia, to be held on the 16th of August. The match will be held at the Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata.

Indians are prepared to use the scoring ability of their skipper and the home conditions to their advantage to put up a decent performance against the powerful team from the middle-east. India’s Coach Mr. Bob Houghton said in a pre-match press conference “Everybody wants to play well on home turf. We will have to utilize this advantage” Houghton admitted that the Saudis were far ahead of the Indians in terms of physical fitness and experience. His rival team has 13 players who played in world cup, 2006.

Wise enough to know that Indians won’t stand easy in front of the mighty Saudi Arabians; the coach said “There’s no pressure of expectation on the players. That would make them play freely”.

Mr. Houghton added: “They are a very strong team. I would be satisfied with a good performance, and good performance doesn’t necessarily mean a win. I know no loss is a good loss. Nevertheless, I would be happy if the boys can play according to the tactics; if they show the determination needed to play against strong teams like Saudi Arabia. If they show some skill, some talent, I would call that a good performance”

With the city experiencing heavy rains, the coach denied the weather to be an advantage for India. Although, Saudi Arabians are not used to rains, they are too strong a side to be beaten by weather.

Though not hopeful of a win right now, the coach admitted: “If we’re to qualify for the World Cup, we’ll have to beat teams like Saudi Arabia in future.”