India Team gears up in Bangalore to defend the Nehru Cup consecutively for the third time

Tuesday, August 07, 2012 Report by Amartya Dasgupta

Picture by: Tushar Kanti Biswas

The India Football team has started training under  the Dutchman Wim Koevermans in Bangalore KSCA stadium. This is a 21 day preparatory camp for the upcoming Nehru Cup. The camp was first scheduled in Greater Noida, but due to excessive rains and bad ground conditions at the last moment it has been shifted to Bangalore in the artificial turf of KSCA Stadium.

EBRP Bangalore representatives were on the field from day 1. The report is a summary of what EBRP has witnessed from the first 3 days of practice session:

The Coach : The former Dutch defender has a point from the first day of the practice session. He has got a vision and is slowly inducing the same into the boys. Already he has been very friendly with the entire team and has also got command over the entire squad which proves his man management skills. His style of play is in short passes. He is taking more time to improve the agility of the team by quickly follow up and coming down with and without the ball, a very typical Dutch move. Till now, the practice and moves he introduced has been very pleasing to watch. The coach is also noting down each and every players’ move. We can expect some good football after 21 days in the Nehru Cup from the Indian side. EBRP representatives who have watched the practice for these first 3 days think he is a wonderful coach and gives a Thumbs up to him.

The Boys : Everyone seems to be fit and injury free. The training is going on artificial turf and also due to the mild drizzles the turf is becoming very slippery. But still the condition of Bangalore turf is of good quality and we hope there won’t be any injuries. The players are also looking quite comfortable in these conditions. As this is the start of the season and most of the players already were having pre season trainings all of them are on top of their physical fitness. The team has got a mixture of both experienced and young players. The players are enjoying the sessions and are under no pressure.

Players from Kolkata : It seems Gurvinder and Nirmal Chetri will be good to see in the tournament. Mehtab and Nabi is also in good form. Robin Singh is improving. Raju Gaikwad; still not in a position to comment. Gurpreet and Subroto Pal are in good form slightly better than Arindam and Karanjit. Most probably the second keeper position will see good contest between Gurpreet and Karanjit.

Other Points : One thing is evident from the practice sessions; the team is lacking a good finisher. It would be a real challenge for the coach to bring in the best forwards and convert them to good finishers in a very short span of time.

India will start their campaign on August 22, 2012 against Syria, the team they have defeated in the last two Nehru Cup finals. Hopefully, the defending champions will start in style. The entire EBRP team wishes good luck to the Blue Tigers.









Picture by: Tushar Kanti Biswas