Houghton will not release footballers for Asian Games

NEW DELHI - Left to chief coach Bob Houghton, none of the 30 Asian Cup probables will be figuring in the Asian Games squad. Houghton made it amply clear here Monday that he was not in favour of disturbing the training schedule of the Doha-bound squad.

Houghton doesn’t want to risk any player two months before the Asian Cup, which will be held in Doha in January, as the Asian Games are in November in Guangzhou in China.

In the Asian Games, where football is an under-23 tournament, teams can field three senior team players. The government has released Rs.100 million for the training of the Asian Games team.

But after the national team’s practice session here, the Englishman made it clear that his priorities are the Asian Cup and not the Asian Games.

“I will not release any player for the Asian Games. We are preparing for the Asian Cup in January and my priorities are the Asian Cup and not the Asian Games,” said Houghton.

Among the 30 probables for the Asian Cup, goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya, forward Sushil Singh, midfielder Jagpreet Singh and defender Govin Singh are all under 23 years of age.

All India Football Federation (AIFF) secretary general Alberto Colaco told IANS: “The final decision regarding composition of all national teams rests with the coaches, who work under the guidance and the direction of the chief coach.”

Houghton also said that after a 0-1 loss to Thailand in a friendly international match in Bangkok, his boys will be extra cautious when they play the visitors in the return leg here Wednesday at Ambedkar Stadium.

“Thailand are a good side. We had a good game against them and had our fair chances in the match as well. It was an even match. When I was the coach of the Chinese team, we used to beat them by three or four goals but all used to be even matches,” Houghton said.

With a series of friendlies lined-up for the Indian team, Houghton said the national players will have a hectic season in the run-up to the Asian Cup in Doha.

After Thailand, India will play Namibia and Gambia this month and then will shift base to Pune for friendlies against Yemen and Vietnam in October.

Houghton, however, had some reservations about playing against African teams like Namibia and Gambia.

“We are playing the Asian Cup not the African Cup of Nations. My logic was since we are playing an Asian tournament, we should concentrate on playing Asian teams,” he said.

Houghton also sounded a bit apprehensive when asked about Yemen, against whom India lost 0-3 in 2006 before the Englishman was appointed in 2007. Yemen were ranked lower than India during the match.

Asked if there would be an improved performance from India against Yemen, Houghton said: “I guess the match was before I was appointed as the national coach. It has now been four years, let’s see what happens.”

Houghton also said that the team is likely to practice in Dubai in November.

“Playing against a World Cup team like North Korea would have benefitted us a lot and since the match didn’t materialise we may go to Dubai for the training camp in November,” he said.

The Englishman was also unhappy with the infrastructure.

“If we had better infrastructure here then we would have never spent millions of dollars in Portugal. It is high time we get some good facilities in India,” he said.