By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian footballers took a day off Monday, a day after registering a 3-0 win over Kyrgyzstan to enter the final of the Nehru Cup, even as the other finalist Syria toiled hard here.
The Indian players were in a relaxed mood – some went for a movie, some celebrated the Onam festival and a few preferred to stay indoors in the comfort of their hotel.
Chief coach Bob Houghton also seemed to be at ease and gave a welcome break to his boys.
“It is a nice break for the boys. They have worked hard in this tournament and I am happy with their performance,” said Houghton in the lobby of the team hotel.
The coach also said that if India wins Wednesday’s final it would be a good sign for the changing face of Indian football.
This is for the first time in the history of the cup that India will be playing in the finals.
The Syrians had a gruelling two-hour practice session.
Syrian coach Fajer Ibrahim stressed on his team’s defence and made his flanks practise the crosses and even took few shots at the goal himself.
“India played really well along both its flanks and our defence has to be up against it. Some crosses by the Indian wingers against Kyrgyzstan were accurate and so today we decided to concentrate on our defence,” said Ibrahim after the training session.
But the bad news for Syria is that Mohammed Alzeno has injured his shoulder though the coach maintained that the forward would be available for the title clash.
Ibrahim had words of praise for the Indian team and said that it would be a tough final at the Ambedkar Stadium.
“India is really playing well and it will be tough for us to beat them. But we have come here to be champions and we will do it,” he said.
The Syrian coach added that the pressure would be on the Indian team as they will be playing in front of their home crowd.
“The pressure is more on India than on us. But even if we lose it won’t make any difference because this is a game and one team has to win,” said Ibrahim.