'Indian football needs to make a choice'

A year after he took over as the national soccer coach, a candid Bob Houghton on Monday admitted that Indian football has seen "no progress" over the last 12 months, thanks to lack of international exposure for the senior squad.

Addressing reporters in New Delhi after one year in the office, Houghton was asked how much India progressed under him.

"No progress," was his terse reply.

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Houghton was clearly unhappy with the lack of international matches for the senior national side, which slipped to 165 in the FIFA rankings.

The senior team played only three full internationals since Houghton took over as various domestic and other commitments kept it from playing more games.

"We played two Asian Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and one against Japan. This is too few in a season. The present ranking does not reflect the quality of the Indian side but the amount of full internationals it has played," Houghton said.

Only results in full internationals played by the senior national team count towards FIFA rankings.

He said the domestic calendar, as it has been over the years, was the main obstacle to raise the standard of the team.

"The calendar is not conducive at all. We have to sort it out. There are too many matches in a short period which results in injuries and prevents proper recovery," the Englishman, who took China to the World Cup finals, said.

Thanks to injuries, top players like Deepak Mondal, Ajayan, Climax Lawrence and Mahesh Gawli have hardly played under the present coach.

"There needs to be a compromise if we are to realise our goals, which are to be among the top 10 and eventually the top five in Asia, which will give us a chance to qualify for the World Cup," he said.

Various traditional local leagues and inter-state competitions insist on having the top players, who get overworked and unable to give their best for the national team.

"There are a lot of self-interest groups involved here," he alleged.

Citing example, Houghton said he had to release eight players from the national camp six days prior to an important Asian Cup qualifier last year for a East Bengal-Mohun Bagan match in the Kolkata league.

"That is unacceptable and would not be allowed in any other country," said a miffed Houghton.

Besides giving sufficient recovery time between matches, the coach suggested making competitions like the Santosh Trophy, local leagues and Durand Cup age-specific competitions.

Accordingly, the All India Football Federation has now decided that players in a national camp will not be allowed to play any league matches in the 14 days prior to a senior international.

"A choice needs to be made. The way things have been it will not be possible to improve the standard of Indian footbal," Houghton said.

The professional national league starting on September 30, however, intends to give more space between the matches.

Things, however, look better now with India concentrating on senior internationals and scheduled to play about 15 matches in the coming 12 months.

It includes the six-nation ONGC tournament (end of August), most likely in Delhi, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup in Sri Lanka and the Maldives (December), the AFC Challenge Trophy (March 2008), meant for countries ranked outside the top 15 in Asia, and three World Cup qualifiers.

The finalists of the AFC Challenge Cup will get a direct berth in the 2009 Asian Cup.

"If everything goes to plan, we would be in a much happier state one year hence with an improved ranking," Houghton said.

The 27 players shortlisted for these matches will assemble for a training camp, most likely in Gurgaon, from June 26 after before flying to Portugal for a three-week preparatory camp there.

"The two months of training will be vital for the coming season as one doesn't get time for preparation between matches," he said.