Wim Koevermans earned one cap for Holland as a member of the team that won the European Football Championship in West Germany in 1988. With Bangladesh also boasting a Dutch coach, Loewijk de Kruif, the contest between Bangladesh and India, both guided by Dutch strategies, may well prove interesting.
With the coach content to be discreet, it was left to Indian captain Sunil Chettri to speak about his team’s aspirations in the tournament. “Our team is a new team with new faces. We had a camp for 20 days which I think is less than all the other teams. There is no strategy to defend the title. Every match is a new match. We have a step-by-step strategy of winning each match. Winning and losing are part of the game.
“The pressure of being the champion is always there. But every tournament is a different tournament. We are a strong team. I don’t think Nepal is a weak team. All the teams in our group are good, but we are the defending champions. It’s really important how we play and it’s not easy to play away. We are not thinking of winning from the first day,” he said.
Meanwhile Nepalese coach Jack Stefanowski, a Polish born American, urged his players to put forth their best. The Nepal team have gone through a three week training camp in Bahrain and Kuwait and won four of the five friendly matches they played in the two countries leading into the Saff Championships, with their only loss coming against the Bahrain U-23 team. Nepal went down 0-3 to the team of youngsters on August 7.
“The Boys played really well in Bahrain and Kuwait. They have come together as a team, which is a good sign going into the Saff Championship. We have played against Pakistan and Bangladesh, while India are defending champions. So we know they all are tough,” said Stefanwski.
Nepal’s final 20 man squad includes seasoned attacking players Anil Gurun and Snatsh Shahukala, as well as talented attacker Bharat Khawas in the team.
