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| Bhaichung and his men can spring a surprise in Kochi |
| HEAD-TO-HEAD |
| India and Oman have met four times in the past. India lost three of these matches and drew one. The following is the list of India-Oman matches: • Pre-Olympic preliminaries, Aug. 4 ’91, Bangalore, drew 1-1 (Mario Soares scored for India) Compiled by Hari Prasad Chattopadhyay |
To utter the words ‘World Cup’ and ‘India’ in the same breath doesn’t come easy to us, save those talking in terms of willow and leather. No doubt, the world becomes bigger when you look beyond the boundaries of a cricket field, but it’s also true that cricket is the only game where an Indian can proudly cheer his team at an international event, inferiority complex not getting the better of him.
Come Wednesday, and thousands of miles away from the focus of national attention (Multan), another set of Indian aspirants will resume their battle for winning recognition in this cricket-crazy country. Yes, we are talking about the Indian football team, which takes on Oman in a World Cup qualifier in Kochi. It looks like an uneven contest on face value, because Oman is ranked 68th in the world (11th in Asia) and India lies at 140 (28th in Asia).
If you ask me, these rankings reveal little of a team’s strength. It depends a lot on how frequently a team plays Fifa-recognised international matches, and we all know that the Indian team gets to play very few of such games. Our ranking, thus, can be very misleading and this Indian team should use that to its benefit. In fact, they can also draw some inspiration from the deeds of our cricket team, which has defied all rankings recently.
This is not to say that Oman is no force. They started serious football only in the Seventies, but have still managed to earn a respectable position on the Asian map. They are still to overtake other middle-east teams like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait, but have inched closer to them and other Asian powers from the far east.
Oman, a rich country, has used the wealth in proper direction. A look at their team shows the chief coach, one of the two assistant coaches, the doctor and the masseur are foreigners. Can the Indian ever think of hiring so many foreign professionals? If this is one reason behind Oman’s superior rating, the other must be the will to strive for the better — something we started doing only of late. Plus, think of Oman’s showing in the previous match — they lost 0-1 to Japan in Japan following an injury-time goal — and there is little doubt that India have a very difficult hurdle to cross.
Yes, it’s a difficult task but not an impossible one. Look at the recent performances of our teams in the international arena, and you will know what I mean. You can see some very encouraging results, including Mahindra United’s recent 2-1 home triumph over Oman’s Dhofar FC in the AFC Cup. Added to this, there is another source to draw inspiration from.
These World Cup qualifiers don’t mean much to us. We can’t topple Japan (only one team from the group makes it to the next round) and the sole interest for us should be to make most of the home matches. We have already beaten Singapore, rated above us, and another win against Oman may not elevate us to a bigger league, but will certainly send a strong message to the rest of Asia.
Bhaichung Bhutia and boys are not behind Oman on the technical and tactical fronts, though the visitors are ahead of us in health and physique. I am keeping my fingers crossed in hope. We can spring a surprise.
Before signing off, I can’t resist this temptation of narrating my experience of being in Pakistan for the last two ODIs in Lahore. It was a unique and unforgettable experience. Not because of cricket, but because of the warmth and love shown by the Pakistanis.
From experience I can tell you that every Indo-Pak contest generates some hostility, but this time, as if under some magic, that was not to be seen. I don’t think what I saw was fixed and that’s a great pointer to the fact that people of these two countries are more than willing to bury memories of enmity.
