{"id":10343,"date":"2012-07-02T07:02:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T07:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/tension-builds-focus-increases\/"},"modified":"2018-06-04T17:03:18","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T17:03:18","slug":"tension-builds-focus-increases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/tension-builds-focus-increases\/","title":{"rendered":"The tension builds, the focus increases"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\nNilanjan Datta<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n

The tension builds, the focus increases. Head Coach Arthur Papas and the boys refuse to get into the permutations. But we have to.<\/p>\n

India play hosts Oman for a berth in the U-22 Asian Cup in their final encounter at the AFC U-22 Championship on Tuesday (July 3). Both India and Oman stay on seven points from 4 matches at the moment — India ahead on goal difference (+5 in comparison to Oman\u2019s +1). The situation demands a win but that doesn\u2019t guarantee a spot in the final phase.<\/p>\n

Both Iraq and United Arab Emirates stay on 10 points and only an Indian victory and an Iraqi victory against UAE will see India through. In case of any other result, it\u2019s exit bells.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, it\u2019s complicated,\u201d Papas clarifies. \u201cLet us try for a victory against Oman. We take the field to win every match, whoever the opposition may be. We have improved with every match so far,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Oman are very capable side. Not only are they ahead in the FIFA Rankings (97 in comparison to India\u2019s 164), but they also boast of some very talented individuals. We go into the match as underdogs,\u201d he maintains.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
National Coach Wim Koevermans and Technical Director Rob Baan pose with the U-22 squad in Muscat<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

National Coach Wim Koevermans, who has watched two of India\u2019s last matches and has made it a point to be there at every practice session along with Technical Director Rob Baan, says: \u201cNo match is ever easy. In football you have to fight on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boys stay ready for that. Half an hour after the match against Turkmenistan, bound by habits, the boys had taken right \u2013 the route from the Dressing Room to the Team Bus. The battle on the left (against Turkmenistan) had been won some minutes back; Oman stayed the next challenge. But Jeje Lalpekhlua looked right, left and centre. \u201cLooking for someone, Jeje?\u201d you ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s the Coach?\u201dSpotting Papas bringing out video camera, Jeje enquired: \u201cCan we watch the next game, the first 45 minutes?\u201d Oman were slated to play Iraq next. \u201cOff-course you can!\u201d Papas allowed. The boys changed direction \u2013 left became right, they proceeded towards the chairs.<\/p>\n

Post dinner, the boys headed straight to the Meeting Room. No, Papas wasn\u2019t there; the support staff weren\u2019t there either and neither were they following any instructions. The boys just wanted to have a talk between themselves. There was Jeje, there was Lalrindika Ralte, there was Abhishek Das, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Prathamesh Maulinkar, Alwyn George \u2013 the entire bunch. The meeting went on for more 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

On being asked, a reluctant Abhishek Das informed next morning: \u201cWe talked as to how were not in our usual self against Turkmenistan in the second half. Against Oman, we need to back each other more \u2013 both on and off the field.\u201d You gauge, it was an emotional meeting which set up a specific target.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeetings can lead you on the right track. They won\u2019t win you the match. Against Oman, we need to give our 200 percent on the ground. Try your Best and Leave the Rest,\u201d a philosophical Jeje Lalpekhlua, opines, even as Masseur Santosh Chacko\u2019s nimble fingers make him feel rejuvenated.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another room which stays the favourite hunting ground for all players \u2013 Room No. 220 to be precise, where Team Physio Kazi Juyef Islam stays. He stays busy 24×7 treating the small niggles. Sometimes he scolds the players for being even 30 seconds late, but they don\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n

Jeje\u2019s fellow striker Manandeep Singh, while getting his treatment done says: \u201cThis is our last shot. Oman are a hard side to beat; very speedy. But it\u2019s our best chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alwyn George who has scored four goals in three matches so far feels: \u201cThe key stays in sticking to our plan. It\u2019s a game for 90 minutes. We can\u2019t hurry and neither can we wait for long. The Coach has specific instructions and we need to carry them out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players take a long breath as they walk almost every step. There can be no halt and they know they need to be energetic and greedy but at the same time, balanced. 90 minutes sometimes pass off too quick; the weight of International Football is immense. Even as every other team hurried off for a practice session, Sunday stayed an off day in the Indian Camp. \u201cThe players need to recover,\u201d Papas defines. \u201cSometimes they too need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Championship has given the chance to measure us at the International Level. Prior to the kick-off, if you are honest, you\u2019ll have to admit none had thought India would be alive and ticking in the last match, especially in a group with Iraq, UAE, Oman, Lebanon and Turkmenistan. \u2018Results don\u2019t matter at this stage, the development does.\u2019 <\/p><\/div>\n

\n
Early morning on Monday, Abhishek walks into the room and sits for a while. Not someone to sit still for long, he flips through Abhinav Bindra\u2019s \u2018A Shot at History,\u2019 and stops at a certain Page. You hear him murmur: \u2018Whatever your mind can conceive, your heart can believe, you can achieve.\u2019  <\/div>\n
\n
The kick-off at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Tuesday (July 3) is at 5pm (IST: 6.30).<\/p>\n

The Calculation: <\/b>
*It\u2019s a must-win match for India.
*But a win doesn\u2019t guarantee India a spot in U-22 Asian Cup.
*Along with an Indian win over Oman, Iraq also need to beat UAE to help India qualify as the second team.
*In case of an Indian win over Oman and an UAE victory over Iraq, UAE and Iraq qualify as the top two teams.
If India draw or lose, exit bells ring. <\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nilanjan Datta The tension builds, the focus increases. Head Coach Arthur Papas and the boys refuse to get into the permutations. But we have to. India play hosts Oman for a berth in the U-22 Asian Cup in their final encounter at the AFC U-22 Championship on Tuesday (July 3). Both India and Oman stay on seven points from 4 matches at the moment — India ahead on goal difference (+5 in comparison to Oman\u2019s +1). The situation demands a win but that doesn\u2019t guarantee a spot in the final phase. Both Iraq and United Arab Emirates stay on 10 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[571,169,166],"class_list":["post-10343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-update","tag-aiff","tag-football","tag-sports","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41909,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10343\/revisions\/41909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dwarkaparichay.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}