Bhaichung Bhutia

New Delhi: A day after rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra changed the course of Indian sporting history in Beijing, Bhaichung Bhutia and his boys find themselves in a position to change the course of Indian football.

The Indian football team has made the finals of three international tournaments in the last one year but the AFC Challenge Cup final against Tajikistan at the Ambedkar Stadium on Wednesday may prove to be the turning point.

The winners of the Challenge Cup will get a direct entry into the final rounds of the Asian Cup in Doha, something that has eluded India for the past 28 years. No wonder the Indian coach Bob Houghton said that this could be India ’s best chance to join the elite company at the Asian level.

But can India achieve the target? Last September, India did wonders at the same venue by winning the Nehru Cup final against a much higher-ranked Syrian team. Almost the same set of players, who triumphed in the Nehru Cup, will be doing duty on Wednesday against Tajikistan, who are placed below India in the Fifa rankings.

To make matters worse for Tajikistan, the visitors will miss the services of their key striker Davrondzhon Tukhtasunov, who was suspended for two matches by the AFC for hitting DPR Korea’s Yun Yong Ill on the head in the semi-final.

Houghton was confident that his team would cross the final hurdle after doing well in the group stages and the semi-final, but also warned saying, “We have to play well. Otherwise, nothing will matter.”

The Indian team look quite happy with the fact that incessant rain in Hyderabad forced the Asian Football Confederation to shift the summit clash to Delhi, where the home team received tremendous support during the Nehru Cup. Back in Hyderabad, the Indians played in front of near empty stands even in the semi-final against Myanmar.

Houghton is likely to field the same team that played against Myanmar in the semi-final.

What is most encouraging for the Indians is that the players are well aware of the importance of this final. Skipper Bhutia, who is having a great run in the tournament, said he was only thinking about winning the title.

“There is no point in discussing whether Tajikistan could be tough opponents or what will happen to the ground condition if it rains before the final,” said Bhutia.

Talking to the media on Tuesday, the Indian coach said that he has fond memories of Delhi as soccer fans here came out in numbers last year to back the national team.

“We played in Bangalore and Calcutta. There was no support. Delhi is a nice place, we should get more support here. When we played at the Gachibowli in Hyderabad , we had to play in front of empty stands,” Houghton said.

“It will be nice to get some publicity. It makes a difference,” he said.

But then, the hurriedly arranged final in Delhi is unlikely to attract as much fans as it was last year. In Nehru Cup, the spectators started filling the stands only after India won their first two matches in the group league.

INDIA IN LAST FIVE FINALS

• 2002 LG Cup Ho-Chi-Min City — India 3 Vietnam 2
• 2003 Afro-Asian Games Hyderabad — India 0 Uzbekistan 1
• 2005 SAFF Cup Karachi — India 2 Bangladesh 0
• 2007 Nehru Gold Cup New Delhi — India 1 Syria 0
• 2008 SAFF Cup Colombo — India 0 Maldives 1