India eye final berth

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Ahead of their game against the toughest opposition in the competition, Cameroon, two-time defending champions India will be keen to finish the job of securing a Nehru Cup final berth when they face neighbours Nepal in a league game at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.

A win over the bottom placed team in the table will seal India’s place in the final, and the hosts will not want to leave it to the last game of the stage against the Indomitable Lions, which can be a tricky encounter if the form the Africans displayed against Nepal on Sunday is any indicator.
Nepal coach Krishna Thapa has the tough task of motivating his boys after two consecutive losses that have put them out of the reckoning for the final. That India are adapting to a new style of play quite successfully under coach Wim Koevermans, makes the task of producing an upset even tougher.
“This Indian side is stronger than the one that played in the AFC Challenge Cup in Kathmandu earlier this year,” was Thapa’s assessment of his opposition.
“There are many young players in the side and they are physically strong. The players look to be sharper. Upfront, Sunil Chhetri also looks more aggressive.”
He, however, promised that his boys would match up to the challenge and were capable of producing an upset.
“The level of India’s performance is going up with every match. Against Maldives, India were too good. But that doesn’t mean Nepal can’t beat India. In fact, both the teams are of the same standard,” he says.
But for that, Nepal need to ensure that they block the supply line to India skipper Chettri and provide some decent crosses to their strikers.
Chhetri, the leading scorer in the competition with three goals, has got tremendous support from the flanks through Clifford Miranda and Sanju Pradhan. Midfielders Mehtab Hossain and Francis Fernandes have also proved up to the task from the centre.
Meanwhile, in slushy conditions due to rain, Maldives edged out Syria 2-1 with an injury time goal in a crucial league game on Monday. Heavy rain delayed the start by over an hour. Neither team could take advantage of the chances that came their way in the first half on the water-logged field.
As conditions improved slightly in the second half, Maldives skipper Asfaq Ali put his team ahead with a header off an Umair Mohamed free kick in the 59th minute. Syria’s attempts for an equaliser finally bore result in the 81st minute when Alaa Alshbbli scored from a bicycle kick inside the box.
However, Ali produced a superb cross in the injury time for Ahmed Rasheed, who pushed the ball into net for the Maldives win.
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India vs Nepal
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