NEW DELHI, Aug 21: Injury-plagued India face a litmus test of character to stay on course for their title defence in the Nehru Cup international football tournament when they take on Kyrgyzstan in a crucial round-robin match on Saturday. India began their campaign with a 0-1 loss to Lebanon and Bob Houghton’s boys need no less than a win in Sunday’s fixture at Ambedkar Stadium under floodlights.
A draw against Kyrgyzstan, ranked four places down India at 160th in the FIFA chart, may still not send Bhaichung Bhutia-led side out of the five-team competition but the hosts fate would then hang on other team’s hand as they play Sri Lanka on August 25 and Syria on August 28. The rub of the green might not have favoured India against Lebanon but now Houghton and his boys will have to shrug off whatever psychological after-effects of that match or else face criticism after having an expensive six-week foreign training tour of Dubai and Spain.
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