Sukhwinder Singh has had several memorable moments with the Blue Tigers.
The veteran coach took charge of the national team for the first time in 1998 and had won the SAFF Championship the following year. But the most memorable period of the coach’s career with the national team came during the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup when India managed to beat continental giants UAE.
Ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in 2000, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had organised an exposure trip to England as preparation for the qualifiers. India were supposed to play two friendly games against English clubs Fulham FC and West Bromwich Albion.
Sukhwinder Singh fondly remembered the memories from the England tour and how they had prepared before travelling to England.
“In 2000, we went to England for preparation. Before the trip, then central sports minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi had called me to his office and told me that it was a good trip and a good exposure tour and wished us the best,” Singh told Goal.
“P.K ‘da’ (Banerjee) was our Technical Director at that time. During our training sessions, we used to work on the English style of football and how they can trouble us. We focused on our endurance, fitness and opposition crosses which is the typical English way of football. I remember P.K Banerjee appreciating our training methodology and also praising me personally.”
The former India coach vividly remembered the experience in England and suggested how the Indian team came very close to beating West Bromwich Albion.
“In England, the first match we played was against Fulham. We defended well against a very strong Fulham side, they had five World Cup playing players in their squad. We defended well throughout the game, but in the latter stages of the match they got one free-kick and scored and after that, they scored again and we lost 2-0.
“After that match, I told my boys that our defensive organisation was good but we were losing ball very easily. In the second match against West Brom, we held them to a 0-0 draw. I remember Bhaichung (Bhutia) could have scored from (I.M) Vijayan’s pass and we could have won that game. Bhaichung would have finished that eight out of 10 times but at that moment, he couldn’t. After the game, the West Brom manager (Gary Megson) congratulated me personally in our dressing room.”
The 2002 World Cup qualifiers had turned out to be a disappointment for the Indians as they had crashed out of the qualifiers from the very first round after finishing third in the Group stages behind UAE and Yemen.
But one of the most memorable wins of the Indian team in the last two decades also came in that campaign. In their very first match of the qualifiers, India had stunned eventual group toppers UAE as they had won the clash 1-0 in Bengaluru, courtesy Jules Alberto’s solitary strike.
Singh reminisced the fond memories of beating UAE in Bengaluru and said, “In the World Cup qualifiers, the most memorable match has to be against UAE which we won 1-0 in Bengaluru. It was a splendid performance by the boys.”
The legendary coach was all praises for Igor Stimac’s current national team and also praised how the team played against Asian champions Qatar and had managed to hold them to a goalless draw in Doha last year.
“The current Indian team is doing very well. They might have struggled in some matches in the World Cup qualifiers but their best performance came against Qatar which they drew 0-0. They played really well,” said the former JCT coach.
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August 30, 2020 at 11:18AM
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