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SpeakOut: The National Team Need To Play More International Matches
This time on SpeakOut, Goal.com's Amoy Ghoshal talks about the need for the national team to play more international matches....
16-Jun-2009 5:36:25 PM
Since winning the AFC Challenge Cup last August, the Indian
national team have played only one international until now, which was the 1-2
defeat at Hong Kong in January. This has not only affected
their FIFA ranking but has also prevented them from getting the right exposure
and practice for the 2011 Asia Cup.
At the end of last year’s AFC Challenge Cup, India had nearly three full years to prepare for their first Asia Cup in 27 years but now they only have two. So from now till the summer of 2011 if India doesn’t play enough international games they will not be well prepared for the Asia Cup.
India are currently 147 in the world and 23rd in Asia. The ranking will only improve if they play more international matches.
The senior national team will be having a camp in Dubai followed by an exposure trip to Barcelona, where they will play a few practice matches, to prepare for the Nehru Cup which will be played in August at Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium.
It is quite a good plan by the AIFF but the frequency of such tours and international matches is what’s holding back the national team. Now its true that unlike many other countries India didn’t have any competitive fixture in the last twelve months. But the AIFF could have organized a few more international friendly matches to keep the national team involved and improve their ranking.
Since Euro 2008, world’s number one team Spain have played eleven international matches till now, four of them have been friendly games. While Asia’s number one side Japan, who have been mainly been involved in world cup qualifying games in 2009, do not have any competitive fixture after their last qualifying game against Australia, till November. But they are already scheduled to play four friendly matches in that period.
AIFF need to take a cue from these nations and organize more international matches In the last twelve months, India didn’t play any friendly matches even in some of the FIFA dates, when countries either play competitive or friendly games.
The federation should be well aware of those dates and schedule the matches accordingly. The friendly against Hong Kong in January was played in the gap between the first phase and second phase of the I-League. But surely international friendly matches can also be played even during the course of the season.
In a week which has a FIFA date, I-League or any other domestic tournament should be stopped as it is done in other countries during an international break. So that the clubs can release their players for international action instead of creating a dispute which would happen if domestic football is on during an international week.
But just playing matches is not enough; the national team needs to have the correct exposure which would help them prepare well for future competitive fixtures.
The Nehru Cup would provide the national team some much needed international exposure, but since India would be having home advantage, maybe this tournament alone wont be enough.
India will be playing against lower division teams of Spain in Spain, but those will be like practice matches which are very much different from playing international teams home and away.
The national team should play equal number of home and away international matches to balance up the exposure they are getting. The Nehru Cup gives an opportunity for India to win some silverware and gain confidence, but losing is also important for development. So playing a higher ranked country from Asia or any other continent, in their own backyard will provide India a much difficult test.
There is no point playing the major nations and losing by big margins. So India should play against the lesser teams which are not far away from them in terms of FIFA rankings and should gradually play against even higher ranked nations.
It is difficult to decide on the exact number of matches which the national team should play in a calendar year, but one thing is for sure the frequency has to increase and the gap between the matches should not be very big gap.
If the gap between two matches is six months then it may bear some disappointing results, which happened in the game against Hong Kong which was played six months after the AFC Cup triumph and India produced a rusty performance, losing the game 1-2.
The clubs also have to be more cooperative so that the club vs. country tussle is nullified but at the same time AIFF have to be more proactive by releasing dates of international matches much before so that the clubs are well prepared to release their players.
More investment will also be required both for organizing this friendly matches and tours and for providing compensations to clubs in case of injuries.
Now whether the national team players should not play at all for clubs till the Asia Cup is still up for debate and opinion will be divided. But one thing is certain, that the national team needs more camps, exposure tours and international matches to improve their FIFA ranking and prepare well for the Asia Cup. So the AIFF should make every effort to ensure the same.
Amoy Ghoshal
At the end of last year’s AFC Challenge Cup, India had nearly three full years to prepare for their first Asia Cup in 27 years but now they only have two. So from now till the summer of 2011 if India doesn’t play enough international games they will not be well prepared for the Asia Cup.
India are currently 147 in the world and 23rd in Asia. The ranking will only improve if they play more international matches.
The senior national team will be having a camp in Dubai followed by an exposure trip to Barcelona, where they will play a few practice matches, to prepare for the Nehru Cup which will be played in August at Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium.
It is quite a good plan by the AIFF but the frequency of such tours and international matches is what’s holding back the national team. Now its true that unlike many other countries India didn’t have any competitive fixture in the last twelve months. But the AIFF could have organized a few more international friendly matches to keep the national team involved and improve their ranking.
Since Euro 2008, world’s number one team Spain have played eleven international matches till now, four of them have been friendly games. While Asia’s number one side Japan, who have been mainly been involved in world cup qualifying games in 2009, do not have any competitive fixture after their last qualifying game against Australia, till November. But they are already scheduled to play four friendly matches in that period.
AIFF need to take a cue from these nations and organize more international matches In the last twelve months, India didn’t play any friendly matches even in some of the FIFA dates, when countries either play competitive or friendly games.
The federation should be well aware of those dates and schedule the matches accordingly. The friendly against Hong Kong in January was played in the gap between the first phase and second phase of the I-League. But surely international friendly matches can also be played even during the course of the season.
In a week which has a FIFA date, I-League or any other domestic tournament should be stopped as it is done in other countries during an international break. So that the clubs can release their players for international action instead of creating a dispute which would happen if domestic football is on during an international week.
But just playing matches is not enough; the national team needs to have the correct exposure which would help them prepare well for future competitive fixtures.
The Nehru Cup would provide the national team some much needed international exposure, but since India would be having home advantage, maybe this tournament alone wont be enough.
India will be playing against lower division teams of Spain in Spain, but those will be like practice matches which are very much different from playing international teams home and away.
The national team should play equal number of home and away international matches to balance up the exposure they are getting. The Nehru Cup gives an opportunity for India to win some silverware and gain confidence, but losing is also important for development. So playing a higher ranked country from Asia or any other continent, in their own backyard will provide India a much difficult test.
There is no point playing the major nations and losing by big margins. So India should play against the lesser teams which are not far away from them in terms of FIFA rankings and should gradually play against even higher ranked nations.
It is difficult to decide on the exact number of matches which the national team should play in a calendar year, but one thing is for sure the frequency has to increase and the gap between the matches should not be very big gap.
If the gap between two matches is six months then it may bear some disappointing results, which happened in the game against Hong Kong which was played six months after the AFC Cup triumph and India produced a rusty performance, losing the game 1-2.
The clubs also have to be more cooperative so that the club vs. country tussle is nullified but at the same time AIFF have to be more proactive by releasing dates of international matches much before so that the clubs are well prepared to release their players.
More investment will also be required both for organizing this friendly matches and tours and for providing compensations to clubs in case of injuries.
Now whether the national team players should not play at all for clubs till the Asia Cup is still up for debate and opinion will be divided. But one thing is certain, that the national team needs more camps, exposure tours and international matches to improve their FIFA ranking and prepare well for the Asia Cup. So the AIFF should make every effort to ensure the same.
Amoy Ghoshal
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