India take on Syria in 2012 Nehru Cup Opener

The 2012 edition of the Nehru Cup is set to kick-off tomorrow evening with hosts and defending champions India taking on old foes Syria at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. The kick-off is slated for 19.00 IST.

The tournament starts a new timeline for Team India under Dutchman Wim Koevermans for whom the Nehru Cup will be the first test with his new team and a new system for the boys, 4-4-1-1 with possession and pass football but no wonders are expected after a few weeks of training.

National Coach Wim Koevermans smiles. "The sport is all about the ball. You keep possession, you stay in control. You lose possession, you need to gain it back fast so that you stay in control," he utters. The practice sessions have been enough testimony to that with 'pass, pass, pass' the new mantra.

"But you need to be patient," quips captain Sunil Chhetri. "In every sphere of life, you ought to be. Adaptation to the new style under a new Coach needs patience. Just because of the new setup, you can't expect miracles."

Syria have been studied but as Koevermans insists, videos are never the true reflection of any team. "When you study a team via a video, it doesn't give you an impression of their off the ball movements," Wim right assesses though interestingöly this is the first time any Indian National Team has the luxury of a video analyst.

"Syria are one of the best teams in Asia," Chhetri continues. "Just because we beat them in the last two editions of the Nehru cup doesn't mean the trend will continue. But we want it to."

Questions keep flowing at the pre-match Press Conference. "I urge all the fans to be behind us when we take the field at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium," Sunil says in Hindi. Realising it was all Latin for Koevermans who was sitting next, he turned to him and apologised. "Carry on. I understand what you say," the Coach quipped as everyone burst into laughter.

The mood within Team India is good, now a positive start into the Nehru Cup needs to follow though one should not forget that India lost against Syria in the Nehru Cup group stage in 2007 and 2009 before winning both the finals.

The match will kick-off at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at 19.00 IST with Neo Prime showing the match live and exclusive.