India Vs Chinese Taipei 21/03/2011
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240 Points
India Vs Chinese Taipei - Preview (by Goal.com)
Competition: AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers Group B
Venue: MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Kick-Off: Monday, 21st March, 17:00 IST
Favourites
Since India’s exit from the 2011 Asian Cup, all the talk has been about the future of Bob Houghton as national team coach. But thankfully all that has been put to rest for now and the Englishman is all set for his first assignment since Doha 2011. Following the change in format, for the first time ever India will have go through the qualifiers in order to play in the final rounds of the AFC Challenge Cup, a tournament they won in 2008 to earn an automatic ticket to the continent’s biggest stage.
This is the first step to Australia 2015 as India would once again hope to win this tournament, contested among the emerging Asian nations and qualify for the Asian Cup. Team India is both the highest ranked team in this group and the favourites to finish first so there is no doubt that Bob Houghton’s side will be expected to make a winning start. The 23-man squad has a number of inexperienced and uncapped players and thus the selection has been made with an eye to the future.
Still there is enough quality in the team to win all three matches and qualify for the final rounds. Skipper Sunil Chhetri, Gouramangi Moirangthem, Subrata Paul and Steven Dias will have to take more responsibility as they are the senior men of this young looking squad. While India Arrows members Raju Gaekwad and Jeje Lalpekhlua will be looking to impress on their senior international debuts. The first match in any tournament is tricky so India must not take anything for granted and look to produce a strong team performance.
Tough Start
Chinese Taipei did really well to progress past the preliminary stage of the qualifiers by beating Laos 6-3 on aggregate, which included an emphatic 5-2 victory in the first leg at home. But they couldn’t have wished for a tougher group, as they face two former finalists of this competition. They have a very young squad, which certainly lacks experience at international level and thus will come into this game as underdogs. However the East Asian Nation are the second highest ranked team (and only two places below India) in Group B and thus will believe that they can beat either India or Turkmenistan in a one-off clash and especially as it will be played at a neutral venue. Back in 2008 Chinese Taipei did face India twice in international friendlies in India and failed to win both. They lost the first game 3-0 but did well to drew the other one 2-2.
Chinese Taipei would be hoping to cause an upset and would take heart from their sixth place finish in the East Asian Championship last year where they narrowly lost to 2010 World Cup participants North Korea. Chinese Taipei will be well aware that all the pressure is on India to win this and therefore they will play without fear and look to exploit the weaknesses in the Indian team.
Players to watch
India – Subrata Paul
Even though India are the slight-favourites for this game, goalkeeper Subrata Paul will be key as India do tend to give away chances to their opponents. So the Pune FC custodian would be aiming to keep a clean sheet and provide a solid foundation for his team.
Chinese Taipei - Chen Po-liang
The 22 year old is a goal scoring midfielder and did net in both the legs against Laos. He would be looking to stamp his authority over the Indian midfield and provide good service for his forwards.
Key Areas
With this being the first game of the tournament for both sides, the coaches might be tempted to adopt a cautious approach and hence it could be a match of very few chances. Therefore Bob Houghton’s side must show their killer instinct and be clinical in front of goal.
Source : <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/57989/india-vs-chinese-taipei/preview">http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/5798 ... ei/preview</a><!-- m -->
Competition: AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Qualifiers Group B
Venue: MBPJ Stadium, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Kick-Off: Monday, 21st March, 17:00 IST
Favourites
Since India’s exit from the 2011 Asian Cup, all the talk has been about the future of Bob Houghton as national team coach. But thankfully all that has been put to rest for now and the Englishman is all set for his first assignment since Doha 2011. Following the change in format, for the first time ever India will have go through the qualifiers in order to play in the final rounds of the AFC Challenge Cup, a tournament they won in 2008 to earn an automatic ticket to the continent’s biggest stage.
This is the first step to Australia 2015 as India would once again hope to win this tournament, contested among the emerging Asian nations and qualify for the Asian Cup. Team India is both the highest ranked team in this group and the favourites to finish first so there is no doubt that Bob Houghton’s side will be expected to make a winning start. The 23-man squad has a number of inexperienced and uncapped players and thus the selection has been made with an eye to the future.
Still there is enough quality in the team to win all three matches and qualify for the final rounds. Skipper Sunil Chhetri, Gouramangi Moirangthem, Subrata Paul and Steven Dias will have to take more responsibility as they are the senior men of this young looking squad. While India Arrows members Raju Gaekwad and Jeje Lalpekhlua will be looking to impress on their senior international debuts. The first match in any tournament is tricky so India must not take anything for granted and look to produce a strong team performance.
Tough Start
Chinese Taipei did really well to progress past the preliminary stage of the qualifiers by beating Laos 6-3 on aggregate, which included an emphatic 5-2 victory in the first leg at home. But they couldn’t have wished for a tougher group, as they face two former finalists of this competition. They have a very young squad, which certainly lacks experience at international level and thus will come into this game as underdogs. However the East Asian Nation are the second highest ranked team (and only two places below India) in Group B and thus will believe that they can beat either India or Turkmenistan in a one-off clash and especially as it will be played at a neutral venue. Back in 2008 Chinese Taipei did face India twice in international friendlies in India and failed to win both. They lost the first game 3-0 but did well to drew the other one 2-2.
Chinese Taipei would be hoping to cause an upset and would take heart from their sixth place finish in the East Asian Championship last year where they narrowly lost to 2010 World Cup participants North Korea. Chinese Taipei will be well aware that all the pressure is on India to win this and therefore they will play without fear and look to exploit the weaknesses in the Indian team.
Players to watch
India – Subrata Paul
Even though India are the slight-favourites for this game, goalkeeper Subrata Paul will be key as India do tend to give away chances to their opponents. So the Pune FC custodian would be aiming to keep a clean sheet and provide a solid foundation for his team.
Chinese Taipei - Chen Po-liang
The 22 year old is a goal scoring midfielder and did net in both the legs against Laos. He would be looking to stamp his authority over the Indian midfield and provide good service for his forwards.
Key Areas
With this being the first game of the tournament for both sides, the coaches might be tempted to adopt a cautious approach and hence it could be a match of very few chances. Therefore Bob Houghton’s side must show their killer instinct and be clinical in front of goal.
Source : <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/57989/india-vs-chinese-taipei/preview">http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/5798 ... ei/preview</a><!-- m -->
Comments
Our lineup-
Subrata Pal, Govin Moirangthem Singh, Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, Nanjangud Shivananju Manju, Raju Gaikwad, Steven Benedic Dias, Rakesh Masih, Jagpreet Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Sunil Chhetri [C], Jeje Lalpekhulua
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.futbol24.com/Live/?__igp=1&LiveDate=&l=22619&l=22552">http://www.futbol24.com/Live/?__igp=1&L ... 19&l=22552</a><!-- m -->