TheHardTackle:
St. Kitts & Nevis
(Fifa Ranking 122)
v
India
v
India
(Fifa Ranking 153)
Warner Park, Basseterre
17th Aug, 2011 – 17:30 Local Time
17th Aug, 2011 – 17:30 Local Time
The Indian National football team left the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Saturday, after the federation had postponed their departure, alarmed over the safety of the players, as the squad was supposed to stay overnight in London, which was alas clouded by riots. The Bhangra Boys are scheduled to play three International friendlies in the Caribbean. The team kick starts their Calypso series against St. Kitts and Nevis on 17th August at Warner Park in Basseterre. On August 21st, the team is scheduled to play against Guyana and three days later the fans could get a chance to cheer team India in Trinidad as they take on the home side at Hasely Crawford Stadium. TheHardTackle takes a look at both the teams for the series opener, analyses their style of play, recent form, strategy and tactics.
-
St. KITTS and NEVIS:
-
FIFA RANKING: 122
The two island nation, factually also being the smallest country in the American continents, is all set to lock horns against the Bhangra Boys on Wednesday. More popularly known as The Sugar Boyz among their faithful supporters, the U-23′s of St. Kitts and Nevis successfully came over the Haiti challenge on July 25th to enter the next round of Olympic qualifiers. Initially the U-23 St. Kitts-Nevis team had got the better of St. Lucia & Antigua and Barmuda in Match Day 1 and 2 respectively. The last three games for Sugar Boyz, have all finished in victories for the Island team.
St. Kitts-Nevis 2-1 St. Lucia
Antigua & Barbuda 1-2 St. Kitts-Nevis
St. Kitts-Nevis 2-1 Haiti
Elated Sugar Boys after beating Haiti
Team St Kitts-Nevis remained undefeated and won the Group D in the CFU Olympic Qualifying Tournament as the Sugar Boyz overcame a spirited Haiti challenge in a thrilling final game of the group. Initially being one nil down, captain fantastic Devaughn Elliot inspired the team to clinch all three points to take the young islanders to the next group stage.
Many of the U-23 young stars are expected to start this match at Warner Park on Wednesday, including U-23 captain Devaughn Elliot and vice captain Javeim Blanchette, which will surely keep Indian defenders on their heels. Striker Travis Somersall, who scored against St. Lucia as well as Antigua, is in red hot form and is all set to start for Lester Morris’ team. He is expected to partner the experienced Keith Gumbs upfront. Goalkeeping duty will be fulfilled by either Akil Byron or the U-23 counterpart Juliani Archibald. Lester Morris is expected to deploy a 4-3-3 formation with a striker just sitting back the two dedicated ones and a defensive midfielder slotting in front of the back four.
Expected Line-up: Akil Byron, Kareem Mitchum, Earl Jones, Keithroy Richards, Tiran Hanley, Devaughn Elliot, Keithroy Saddler, Stephen Clarke, Travis Somersall, Keith Gumbs, Javeim Blanchette.
-
INDIA:
-
FIFA RANKING: 153
After the ambitious display of character at the Ambedkar Stadium against a disciplined UAE side, where the Indian team might have bowed out of the World cup qualification contention, but only after winning thousands of hearts, as the team fought their way back into the match and shared the honors with a much superior side. Indian fans still debate and rue the 3-0 loss in the first leg in Dubai which led to almost a dead rubber at Delhi, more so after the visitors had taken the lead.
There is no denial of the fact that Indian team was looking good and the difference in the style of play was quite obvious, from what the fans were used to observe earlier under Bob Houghton. In both the legs, the men in blue stuck to possession football and used the long ball occasionally.
The team is now slated to play three matches against much higher ranked teams in the Caribbean, away from home. This is certainly another positive step taken by the federation to provide more exposure to the young team, which seems to gel quickly under Armando and Savio Mediara. The team takes on in from St. Kitts-Nevis on Wednesday in the tour opener.
Initially, it was feared that many of the top notch regular starters would not be able to board the plane to the West Indies after many of the I-league clubs refused to release their players, fearing injuries and lack of practice with the team , before the Federation Cup and I-league kicks off in India. AIFF had to bend its back to get the players released and are now seeking FIFA’s help to get rid of such issues in future. Here is the final 23 member Indian squad on tour:
Sunil Chettri-Man to Watch Out !
Goalkeepers: Subrata Pal, Karanjit Singh, Laxmikant Kattimani.
Defenders:Raju Gaikwad, GourmangiSingh, Valeriano Rebello, MaheshGawli, Samir Naik, DebabrataRoy, Rowilson Rodrigues, Robert Lalthalmuana.
Midfielfders: Rahim Nabi, Climax Lawrence, Steven Dias, Lalrindika Ralte, Peter Carvalho, Clifford Miranda, Rocus Lamare, Mehtab Hosain.
Forwards: Jeje Lalpeklua, Sunil Chhetri, S Sabeeth, Sushil Singh.
Once again we can expect to see the overlapping runs of Debabrata Roy and veteran Samir Naik from the flanks, exchanging neat passes with wingers Steven Dias, and Syed Rahim Nabi. After his impressive performance in the last game, Lalrindika Ralte might be used as a super sub in the second half. Mehtab Hussain, who impressed all with his typical double engine performances, is once again expected to start alongside Dempo man Climax Lawrence at the heart of midfield.
Indian strike force upfront comprises of usual suspects – Sunil Chettri, Pune FC prodigy Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sushil Singh and CS Sabeeth. Sunil and Jeje will pair up again to shoulder the scoring responsibilities for team India. East Bengal striker Baljit Sahni is one of the few notable absentees from the World cup qualifier squad. The strikers will surely have their work cut out as they would be up against a physically stronger St. Kitts-Nevis defenders.
Armando Colaco could also start with the experinced Mahesh Gawli at the back. Rocus Lamare, the young energetic midfielder from the I-league champions Salgaocer could also be tested in tough away conditions. Team Colaco-Savio would be keeping a close eye on the new players in the squad , and would certainly give a few of them chances to make a difference on the tour. CS Sabeeth, the lanky striker was so instrumental in Viva Kerala’s aim to avoid the drop last season, would also turn up on the field to prove a point to his critics.
Expected Line-Up: Subrata Pal, Samir Naik, Raju Gaekwad, Gouramangi Singh, Debabrata Roy, Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, Mehtab Hussain, Syed Rahim Nabi, Sunil Chettri, Jeje Lalpekhlua.
Without a shadow of a doubt, this tour could help India improve it’s dismal ranking, if the Bhangra Boys can churn out some good results. Armando Colaco is certainly relishing the challenge as it would put his lads up against a stern test and would be hoping that Indians do justice to the tour in terms of learning and growing as a team.
On the other hand Lester Morris would be hoping to test his side before the big WC Qualifier matches starting from 2nd September against Peurto Rico at Home. As indians back home prepare themselves for the Argentina vs Venezuela showdown on the collossal platform, team India would certainly be looking forward to showcase the much talked about ripple effect
0 comments:
Post a Comment