vroomfondel Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Syria is ranked 112 by FIFA, along with heavyweights Malawi and Burundi. Our gladiators, ranked 157ish, fighting to breathe in the rarefied air of a Nehru cup final, fought bravely and against all odds effected a 1-0 demolition of the enemy. http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/30/stories/2007083062172500.htm NEW DELHI: A packed house cheered India to a rare international football title here on Wednesday night with the home team taming Syria by a lone first-half goal in the ONGC Nehru Cup tournament. Baichung Bhutia did not score, but paved the way for a priceless strike by N. P. Pradeep in the 44th minute. It should, however, be recorded that India owed the triumph immensely to an impeccable performance under the bar by Subrata Paul. His anticipation in cutting off Syria’s aerial forays was the most striking feature of the contest. Well matched The Indians matched the Syrians in every aspect of the game — speed, control, aggression and tactics. Pace was furious but the match suffered in quality once the Syrians adopted needless rough tactics, especially to unsettle Bhutia and Sunil Chettri. The ploy did not work for long and Syria paid dearly for its misadventures in the first half. It first conceded a goal and then lost a key player to a lethal lapse in concentration. Even as tempers rose, the game threatened to go out of control. Referee Sikhrakar Surendra opted to ignore some fouls and rapidly the game de-generated with the Syrian players going for the man and not the ball. Despite the hard work by striker Maher Al Sayed and some outstanding defending by Ali Dyeb, Syria went down to an opposition that played as a team. The visiting side played the second half with ten men after Wael Ayan felled Surkumar Singh in a moment of madness. It could have been worse had he gone ahead with his act of hurling the soft drink bottle at Bhutia. The Syrians allowed the occasion to rattle their composure and the team produced a rare sight of their own players exchanging words among themselves. The Indian defence was superbly marshalled by ‘man of the match’ Mahesh Gawli with unflappable support from N. S. Manju and Gouramangi Singh. The Syrians were constantly harassed by Surkumar Singh too and it made the task easy for the midfield where N. P. Pradeep and Climax Lawrence could afford to frequently assist the strikers, leaving Ajayan Nair and Stevan Dias to plug the loopholes, if any. The credit of coming close to scoring first went to India in the tenth minute but Chettri shot out in front of an open goal. India did well to attack relentlessly even though Syria did manage some dangerous counter-attacks. It, however, failed to get past the impregnable Paul. The goal by Pradeep was just the tonic Indian football needed. Chettri initiated the move, found Bhutia, who could not finish the job but an overlapping Pradeep slotted the loose ball in with a flourish that epitomized the team’s regal march to the title. Syria, ranked 39 places above India,had one last chance in injury time but Jenyat shot wide. India should have been up by another goal but Dias made a hash of a spectacular square pass by Bhutia. In the end, the misses did not count. The win fetched India $40,000, the entire money to be distributed among the players. Oil and Natural Gas Commission contributed a similar amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apocalypse Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 They were beaten by Syria in league matches but great comeback Congrats to Indian Team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varun Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 whoa awesome ! What was heartening to read was the following: A packed house cheered India to a rare international football title A packed house for a football game in Delhi ! How I wish it was the case when I used to go for watching football matches earlier. Every time it used to be more than half empty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dada_rocks Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Yes I had this inkling we will beat syria in finals.. great job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beetle Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 :yay::yay::yay: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veer Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 see packed groud is more or less after-effect of exiting WC so early.. soo i am glad we are losing in cricket.. its about time, we invest more into other sports.. 1 bronze in olympics isnt enough for a GIANT NATION.. gooooooo bhaichung bhutia.. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdhoni7 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/47687/chak-de-india-in-football-feat-india-lift-nehru-cup.html here's video highlights + biachung interview nice to see our team fight back when the syrians were clearly playing dirty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketics Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 yes heard about it.. finally some good achievement.. well done Indian Soccer team.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyfood Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 congradz to the indian side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vroomfondel Posted August 31, 2007 Author Share Posted August 31, 2007 thanks for the video. baichung sounds like tendulkar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parth Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Maybe we should change this site to Indian soccer fans, after India's performance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tendulkar Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Yes unbeliviable beating the 112th team in the world. The rest of the world must be shaking in there boots. Not like our cricket losers who just won a test series against the No 2 ranked side in the world in their back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karina Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Baichung RULES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veer Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Yes unbeliviable beating the 112th team in the world. The rest of the world must be shaking in there boots. Not like our cricket losers who just won a test series against the No 2 ranked side in the world in their back yard. :hysterical::hysterical: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theguyinallblue Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 a joke on Baichung.. There was a north east indian family.. they had a son..whom they named..भाईचुंग भूटिया then they had a girl child ..and they named her as बहनचुंग भुटिया but unfortunately they had a third child..who looked like a negro...and they named him as कौन है यह चुतिया :haha: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 that is the dirtiest play i have ever seen on football field by syria. including the crappiest portuguese teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts