New Delhi: Italian midfielder Marco Materazzi could be at the centre of controversy, but India’s national coach Bob Houghton would like to have ‘at least half a dozen’ like him for the Indian team.
Perturbed by the fact that there is hardly a tall player in the current Indian squad, Houghton hopes that watching the World Cup this time should help Indian football understand the growing importance of height and physical strength in the game.
“After Germany 2006, Indian football should now realise the need for players with good height,” Houghton told The Telegraph from Goa.
“Did you look at Materazzi from Italy? He must be at least 1.85 metres tall. He is also a man of enormous strength. No wonder he left the entire French defence high and dry to head in the crucial equaliser in the final.
“To break through the rival defence one needs such height and strength.”
Houghton felt India desperately needed physically strong footballers with good height to gain success in international football. “Most of the footballers in all the teams in the World Cup were tall, strong and well built, be it a defender, midfielder or a striker. Without that, it’s difficult to make an impact.”
Apart from the physical side, the national coach felt India should learn to convert set pieces into goals. “I don’t have exact statistics with me at the moment, but I think more than half of the goals have come from set-pieces.”
“There are teams like Italy, who did not concede a goal except from set-pieces like corners or spot kicks. To break such defence one has to know how to score from set-piece movements.”
From the tactical point of view, this World Cup didn’t offer much to learn, said the British coach.“In fact, football hasn’t seen too many big tactical changes since the 1990 Cup in Italy.”
HOW ASIAN TEAMS FARED
Iran
They really fell short of my expectations. In France in 1998, Iran forced everyone to sit up and take notice of them when they defeated the US in that crucial match. Then they had a bunch of brilliant players. I don’t know what happened to them in the last few years, but 10 years ago Iran had a better lot of footballers.
Japan
They were a good team with a mediocre coach. There is no doubt Zico simply messed it up. I watched the Japan-Australia match and thought if only the teams had swapped their coaches. Japan has produced some spectacular footballers like Nakata, Nakamura and Inamuto. I thought they were having problems in the last 30 yards.
Saudi Arabia
I expected them to do better. They always do so well at the Asian level, but fail to translate their superiority at the world stage. This Asian team was quite impressive when they played Tunisia in the group match. With little more luck and better defensive organisation they could have walked away with three points instead of one.
South Korea
Expectations from the Asian teams were too high. Korea were unlucky to be in a tough group despite doing a good job. That they were able to hold France 1-1 is an ample example of their strength and defensive qualities.
