By Abhishek Roy, IANS
New Delhi : The sea change in the confidence level of Indian footballers due to new coach Bob Houghton has meant it’s raining goals for India in the Nehru Cup international football tournament, where the hosts take on Syria in the final Wednesday.
The Indian team has scored 12 goals and has let in just three from four matches in the tournament and it has come as a welcome sign, given the fact that last year the same team conceded 24 and struck only twice in six matches.
So is there some change in Indian football? If one delves into the matter it can easily be made out that there has been a sea change in the attitude and confidence of the players, thanks to new British coach Bob Houghton.
“I think after Bob took over there has been a sea change in the team. Never before I have found the team scoring so many goals against quality opponents with confidence,” captain Bhaichung Bhutia told IANS.
“He has changed the mentality of the boys and he has also made everyone have a sense of pride in representing the country,” said Bhutia.
The Indian captain went to the extent of saying the Houghton is the best coach he had in his life.
“I have trained under lots of coaches in India, England and Singapore. But I think he is the best coach I ever had in my life,” Bhutia observed.
The Englishman prefers the 4-4-2 formation, which is the preferred style of play in British football but Bhutia maintained that during practice they don’t stick to it. They keep changing it.
Like any other team the midfield has been the main strength for India and both the flanks have supplied the forwards with some excellent crosses.
“We have improved a lot in cross balls and all these because of practice. But it is not that during practice session we only go on shooting the crosses but it is the formation that we stress on,” said Bhutia.
“It is like that the centre midfielders will give the pass to the flanks who will cross it to the strikers in the box, and they will go up against the defenders to score the goals. So everyone in the team is pitted against each other,” he said.
It wasn’t a smooth start for the 58-year-old Englishman after he was appointed the chief coach of team India last year.
India had lost 0-6 to Japan and went down 0-3 to lowly ranked Yemen in the qualifiers of the AFC Asian Cup just before Houghton took over the reins of the team. The coach, of course, was coming with a huge reputation, having taken China to the World Cup finals.
His first assignment in India was a four-team invitational tournament in Canada, where the Indians lost to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the opening game before defeating the Chinese U-20 team to finish third in the competition.
But back home more disappointment was in store as they went down 0-3 to Saudi Arabia in a home match of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Kolkata and in the return leg in Jeddah they were thrashed 7-1. Against Japan in Bangalore they lost 0-3 and it was followed by a 1-2 loss to Yemen in Saa’na, in which Houghton fielded a largely under-23 side, with an eye on the Asian Games.
It was a much-improved performance by the Indian team in the year-ending Doha Asian Games where they lost only one match to defending champions Iran by a 2-0 margin and drew their games with Hong Kong and Maldives.
Since then it has been a steady journey for the Englishman and his boys and the Nehru Cup tournament has been a revelation.
“Look what we were last year and what we are now. It is really a credit to Bob for changing the attitude of the players. Every player is well aware of his responsibility on the field and every one is thinking during the 90 minutes,” said ace striker Sunil Chettri, who has scored four goals in the tournament.
All the players are keen to give credit to Houghton. They say the Englishman is an optimist at heart and has instilled the same thing in his boys.
“He never says anything if we lose. Bob is always talking about winning, which creates a feel good factor in the team,” said Abhishek Yadav, whose scintillating goal from a solo run capped India’s win against Kyrgyzstan in the Nehru Cup Sunday.
“Even if I make a mistake he will never scold me. The first thing he will say is that ‘you played well, but I want you to do this thing better’. This is how he has instilled self belief in the players,” said Yadav.