Despite starting as runaway favourites, India are guarding against complacency as they play one of the world’s weakest sides Bhutan on the opening day of the Asian Football Confederation under-20 championship here tomorrow.The hosts, with a FIFA ranking of 123, are miles ahead of the tiny Himalayan kingdom, which has recently climbed up to the 199th spot after trouncing Montserrat 4-0 last month in a match between the two weakest soccer sides of the world.The India-Bhutan outing would be the seond match on the morrow, with Tajikistan and Kyrghyzstan clashing in the tournament lung-opener earlier in the day.However, Bhutan’s Dutch coach Schans, who arrived in Bhutan in June to prepare the national squad for the Montserrat match, had no hesitation in admitting that his side ‘virtually stood no chance’ against India, who have the home advantage.“They are physically strong. Moreover, their players have been picked up from different parts of the vast Indian nation while my charges have been culled from some of the schools of Bhutan’s capital Thimpu,” he said.The Indians, who have been practising here for the last one month, are likely to play in a 4-5-1 format, with Syed Rahim Nabi starting as the sole striker. Ashim Biswas and the fleet-footed James Singh would don the role of withdrawal forwards along with two genuine wingers in the form of Malswan Tulanga and Subhas Chakraborty.Akhemedov said he visualised a central midfield role for Bungo Singh, but was not sure of his fitness level.The Uzbek also felt the Indians would have been better equipped for the tournament had they got some good match practice.“One major drawback is that my top players like Bungo had to sit out almost the whole of the last season on the benches of bigger teams,” he said.On the other hand, youngest FIFA member Bhutan would play in the traditional 4-4-2 format. “They have been playing in this system when I arrived there last month (June six). I didn’t want to change the system abruptly,” Schans said.Only three players of the team have international exposure of sorts, having turned out against Montserrat. While number one custodian Pushpalal Sharma took the ground for the last 10 minutes, defender Passang Tshering and medio Pema played the full 90 minutes. The last two, incidentally, occupy a crucial place in Schans’s scheme of things.
