By IANS,
New Delhi : India were held 1-1 by local Barcelona football club Esportiu Europa in their third practice match in Spain.
Skipper Bhaichung Bhutia gave India the lead in the 32nd minute but a rough tackle by Surkumar Singh helped Europa restore parity with Alberto Padilla converting a penalty in the 72nd minute at the Mini Eastadi in Barcelona, Saturday evening.
India made a shaky start after Europa launched a series of attack on their defence but heroics of goalkeeper Subrata Paul helped the visitors to keep a clean slate in the first half.
Bhutia started the proceedings upfront with young striker Sushil Kumar. India’s first clear chance came in the eighth minute but Shushil shot it wide and wasted a beautiful pass by his captain.
Bhutia did his best to create opportunties but his team mates couldn’t connect to any of them. Bhutia finally found the target in the 32nd minuite when a long ball found him clear of the Europa defence and he smartly put it past the goalkeeper to give India the lead.
India went into the break with a 1-0 lead and coach Bob Houghton decided to give his ace striker Sunil Chettri, who has been nursing an injury, a try for the first time on the tour, replacing Sushil in the second half.
The tried and tested pair of Bhutia and Chettri failed to create its magic as Chhetri looked rusty in his first game. Bhutia came close to double the lead in the 60th minute but shot it wide.
The India captain was finally substituted in the 70th minute and two minutes later they lost the lead after Surkumar committed a foul while clearing the ball and it was a child’s play for Padilla to convert the penalty and that spoiled India’s hopes of a second consecutive victory on the tour.
India’s last practice match is Wednesday and their month-long camp in Barcelona will conclude Friday. The camp is a part of India’s preparation to defend their Nehru cup title this month here.