Champions again

The month of August kept its date with the Ambedkar Stadium and history didnt change. In fact,it was rewritten even more gloriously.

India defended their Nehru Cup title with a 6-5 victory that went to sudden death as Subrata Paul pushed Hamzeh Alattounis spot kick above the upright,kicking off celebrations. A little earlier,Paul had been sporting a smile to Syrias Wael Ayan before staving off another spot kick. This,after Renedy Singh had returned towards his team mates hiding his face having missed Indias second kick in the shootout. The 25-year-old goalkeeper had fended off one more earlier,but his fate,along with Indias,kept on drifting as Mehrajuddin Wadoo hit one straight into Syrian goalkeeper Mosab Balhous.

Up and down

The trend had started early in the first half as every miss took India away and let the Syrians fight back. After a hard-fought battle of over 105 minutes that included no substitution from the hosts and two from the opponents,Bob Houghton had a trick up his sleeve. Renedy came on,and within nine minutes,taking a free-kick,sent the ball left as the surprised Syrian defence shifted towards right,along with Bhaichung Bhutia,Steven Dias and Sunil Chhetri. The drift on the ball took it inside the goal. A look at the clock,and the celebrations took off. The scoreline seemed destined to be what it was in 2007 India 1,Syria 0 until Ali Dayab threw himself in to meet Raja Rafes cross perfectly with just 30 seconds to go.

The script had changed.

Winning matches on penalties8230; Its the worst way to lose but an exhilarating way to win, Houghton said.

His goalkeeper backed the coachs words. Paul was there to collect every ball safely during the 120 minutes of play. There was a barrage of crosses from the two wings as Indias back four allowed Syrias wingers,Wael Ayan and Abdalrazak Al Hosian,to play freely,but Paul held good. And then there were the three saves out of seven from the spot.

He,however,could have been saved the trouble much earlier. In the very first minute,in fact,when Bhutia,who was later adjudged the player of the tournament,ran across the left wing with the crowd just settling in behind him. From a one-on-one opportunity,he mistimed the kick straight into Balhous.

Marked man

In the rest of the match he wasnt allowed much space. Constantly marked by Alattouni and Belal Abdul Daim,the Indian skipper picked up a yellow card in the first half for showing dissent. Eyeing the opportunity,the Syrians upped the pressure on Bhutia and India.

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Many off-the-ball tackles went overlooked,the crowd screamed along with the 33-year-old for a card,and Alattouni was booked in the second half. Chhetri had the best opportunity of capitalising on the Syrians. A ball from Dias on the counter attack just needed a touch from the surging Indians with the striker leading the pack. Chhetri,though,failed to make contact in the 80th minute and Indias most open chance went astray.

The month of August and the venue were the only constants as India completed a hat-trick of titles Nehru Cup 2007,AFC Challenge Cup 2008 and now Nehru Cup 2009.