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| December 11, 2005 | Sunday | Ziqa’ad 8, 1426 |
Indian coach confident of success
KARACHI, Dec 10: Indian soccer coach Syed Nayeemuddin said on Saturday his side was the favourite and not Pakistan at SAFF championship but failed to justify his claim by saying “it is a secret.”
“These are secret things,” Nayeemuddin replied during a post-match press conference after pondering and a long pause when asked how he could claim India as favourites while his side has been giving below par performances.
While the Indian said he considered Pakistan one of the toughest sides but not favourites, he agreed that his side had yet to settle down.
Interestingly, he felt happy on a 3-0 win against lowly-rated Bhutan, while Bhutan coach Khare Basnet said the Indians could have won 5-0 or 6-0 had they not taken his side as easy prey.
“It was not complacency that we missed number of chances against Bhutan today. Players just need some time to settle down. (Baichung) Bhutia has come after a long layoff and he is also taking time to settle down.
“Since Bhutia is now back into the fold after a long time I think he is over enthusiastic, but there is no complacency. We are here to win. No matter who we play. Whether we play Pakistan or Maldives, we are ready for the semifinals,” Nayeemuddin said.
Basnet said he was happy even after the loss since he only had goalkeeper Jigme Singye and Wangay Dorji from the senior squad, while the remaining players were from Under-23 preparing for next year’s SAF Games in Colombo.
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