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Indian National Team Friendly Preview: Thailand - India
First of two legs..
By Amoy Ghoshal
Kick-Off: Saturday 4th September, 16:30 IST
Venue: Yamaha Stadium, Bangkok
Venue: Yamaha Stadium, Bangkok
Home Advantage
Thailand will be looking to further improve their FIFA Ranking (currently 104) by beating India at home. The ‘War Elephants’ have lost only once at home under English coach Bryan Robson and come into this game on the back of a 1-0 home win over neighbours Singapore last month.
Striker Sarayoot Chaikamdee could be the danger man as he has a very good goal scoring record at international level. Thailand like to play a quick short passing game in midfield with Sarayoot acting as the focal point up front.
There are a number of youngsters in the squad as coach Robson looks to give them more exposure ahead of the Asian Games in the November. However still there is enough experience and quality in the team to utilize home advantage and record a win over India, who are ranked 34 places below them.
Will Chaikamdee (9) Be The Key?
Will Chaikamdee (9) Be The Key?
An International Match At Last
The wait is over for Indian football followers as the senior national team is all set to play their first international match for more than a year and first away international since January 2009. Such inactiveness has seen India drop to 138 in the FIFA Rankings, so these twin ties against Thailand starting with the away leg in Bangkok will give the 2011 Asian Cup participants the opportunity to improve their ranking.
India had a two-month long preparatory camp in Portugal, where they played as many as ten practice matches against lower division Portuguese clubs. They won six, drew two and lost just twice but the real test starts now as they face international teams.
With Bhaichung Bhutia unlikely to feature, Kansas City Wizards striker Sunil Chhetri has to take more responsibility along with the in-form Mohammed Rafi. The performance of playmaker Climax Lawrence will also be crucial but eventually it will come down to how well India play as a team and also deal with the atmosphere inside the stadium.
Skipper Unlikely To Feature
Team News:
Thailand:
Coach Bryan Robson is set to name a full strength team from the available squad as there are no injury worries.
Who Will Win The Tactical Battle?
India:
Captain Bhaichung Bhutia has started training but is unlikely to play any part in the game as he is far from match fitness. Defender Samir Naik is still out injured but encouragingly for coach Bob Houghton both Abhishek Yadav and Steven Dias are available for selection with the latter also set to start.
Possible India Starting XI
Formation (4-4-2): Subrata Paul; Surkumar Singh, Gouramangi Moirangthem, Anwar Ali, N.S. Manju; Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep, Anthony Pereira; Sunil Chhetri & Mohammed Rafi
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Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Thailand 1-2 India
- 29.27 %
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Thailand 2-0 India
- 10.98 %
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Thailand 0-2 India
- 8.54 %
| India Friendlies (IF) | 08-Sep-2010 | India 1 - Thailand 2 |
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| India Friendlies (IF) | 04-Sep-2010 | Thailand 1 - India 0 |
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Thailand
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| 29-Feb-2012 | Oman 2 - Thailand 0 | WCQA |
| 15-Nov-2011 | Thailand 0 - Australia 1 | WCQA |
| 11-Nov-2011 | Saudi Arabia 3 - Thailand 0 | WCQA |
| 11-Oct-2011 | Thailand 0 - Saudi Arabia 0 | WCQA |
| 06-Oct-2011 | Thailand 0 - Jordan 0 | FR |
India
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| 13-Mar-2012 | Korea DPR (PRK) 4 - India 0 | ACC |
| 11-Mar-2012 | Philippines 2 - India 0 | ACC |
| 09-Mar-2012 | India 0 - Tajikistan 2 | ACC |
| 27-Feb-2012 | Azerbaijan 3 - India 0 | FR |
| 23-Feb-2012 | Oman 5 - India 1 | IF |
| - | Subrata Paul | |
| 19 | Gouramangi Moirangthem | Defender |
| - | Surkumar Singh | |
| - | Mahesh Gawli | |
| 5 | Anwar Ali | Defender |
| - | NP Pradeep | |
| - | Steven Dias | |
| 12 | Anthony Pereira | Midfielder |
| - | Climax Lawrence | |
| 11 | Sunil Chhetri | Striker |
| - | Mohammed Rafi | |
| 25 | Subhasish Roychowdhury | Goalkeeper |
| - | N.S. Manju | |
| 18 | Sushil Singh | Striker |
| - | Abhishek Yadav | |
| 22 | Syed Nabi | Defender |
| - | C. Miranda | |
| - | Renedy Singh | |
| - | Mehrajuddin Wadoo |
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
19 
0 
0 
5 
0 
0 
12 
0 
11 
0
Results
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sunil Chhetri
Striker India |
11 | 1 |
|
Abhishek Yadav
Striker India |
5 | 0 |
|
Mohammed Rafi
Striker India |
5 | 0 |
|
Bader Al-Mutawa
Striker Kuwait |
4 | 0 |
|
Sushil Singh
Striker India |
3 | 0 |