{"id":10841,"date":"2012-10-15T08:38:16","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T08:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=10841"},"modified":"2012-10-15T08:38:16","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T08:38:16","slug":"india-all-set-to-face-singapore-in-friendly-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=10841","title":{"rendered":"India all set to face Singapore in a friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"indian-football\"<\/strong>Singapore<\/strong>: Sun, thunder and rain! Add Football to it. The weather in Singapore stays pleasant but unpredictable. It\u2019s a welcome break from the humidity back home, lazy white puffs of cotton floating in the sky and the Sun preferring to play hide and seek all day. And when it hides, there are occasional thunders followed by an hour of drizzle.<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s no hiding in the Team India meeting sessions. The video sessions stay analytical as much they stay interactive. Coach Wim Koevermans <\/a>prefers to listen too as he lets the players speak. Mind you, he doesn\u2019t dissect it always, rather he asks the players to do it.<\/p>\n

Besides his height and wit, Koevermans\u2019 enthusiasm and energy level is bound to strike you. The Man just can\u2019t stay aloof and away from work! His energy level never drops! Every minute detail planned to perfection from much ahead, he stays the lungs of the squad, 24×7.<\/p>\n

But is he a bit too demanding?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows his priorities and what to ask. He was the right to do that. We need to follow his instructions on and off the field,\u201d stopper Gouramangi Singh opines.<\/p>\n

\u201cTop Quality boys,\u201d Koevermans instructs his wards at the practice session at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium. \u201cFaster,\u201d he shouts the very next moment. You gauge the increase in speed. <\/p>\n

\u201cPress,\u201dfollows. You see the momentum rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaster, faster\u2026..quality,\u201d he goes on. The boys carry on. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium earlier in the AFC Cup,\u201d informs Mehtab Hossain. At that time, there were stands on all side.\u201d You look around. At present, the stands stay on one side while the far side boasts of Villas, \u201cUSD 2 million Villas,\u201d the Local Manager, Mr. Sukumar, a Police Officer, informs. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we will have to play in front of a hostile crowd,\u201d Gouramangi opines. \u201cPeople may feel it\u2019s hard to adjust to a new defensive partner within three days in the National Team. But we stay aware of the Coach\u2019s philosophy. We have played together earlier too. Adjustment is never a problem,\u201d the most capped player in the Indian National side at the moment, echoes. <\/p>\n

\u201cCome on boys. One more time,\u201d you hear Koevermans\u2019 voice in the background. <\/p>\n

The players rush. Though all stay available for selection, Koevermans hasn\u2019t yet picked his Final Playing XI. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to make Anthony Pereira speak. Ask him, and he just smiles. \u201cWe need to play well. We need to stick to our plans. We stay confident but this is a different match,\u201d he says in one breath. <\/p>\n

His roommate, Francis Fernandes just can\u2019t stop going gaga about the change in philosophy. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenging one. Keeping the ball to yourself and getting it back at the earliest stays difficult. But I\u2019m loving it,\u201d he quips. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way you won\u2019t fall in love with the City. Driving seems to be the easiest job\u2013 there\u2019s no traffic and horns in the cars don\u2019t seem to exist. The skyscrapers keep vigil on the cycle lanes where kids, ladies, elderly gentlemen and ladies ride the two wheelers. Cars stop to give them way even as the favourite pastime for people of all ages seem to be jogging. Needless, to say, there\u2019s greenery all around.<\/p>\n

\u201cRun, run, run\u2026\u201d Koevermans\u2019 stays in command.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s quite a few foreign players playing for the Singapore National Team. There are two Chinese based players, one Australian, one British, an African and two Serbian players.<\/p>\n

Coach Radojko Avramovic informs: \u201cThere are people from all Nationalities staying in Singapore. They are locals who are citizens of Singapore.\u201d Captain Baihakki Khaizan, sitting next, nods.
http:\/\/www.indiansportsnews.com\/administrator\/index.php?option=com_content
\u201cIndia come into the match as a confident team after their performance in the Nehru Cup. Our primary plan will be to stop that man,\u201d Avramovic points at Captain Sunil Chhetri. There\u2019s laughter all around.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeel your marker, feel your marker, boys,\u201d Koevermans\u2019 practice session continues. <\/p>\n

Lenny Rodrigues, with his long strides, plays one-two with Mehtab, passes to Clifford who passes to Francis and then Chhetri and so on. The ball rolls on as it enters the penalty box. <\/p>\n

\u201cScore, Abranches \u2013 score,\u201d there\u2019s excitement in Koevermans\u2019 yell. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it,\u201d Koevermans\u2019 voice sounds satisfied as Abranches chips it into the net. \u201cHave a Drink boys,\u201d he instructs. The boys run for the water and run back again. <\/p>\n

The kick-off on Tuesday (October 16) is at 7.45pm (IST: 5.15pm).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Indian Sports News Network<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"indian-football\"<\/strong>Singapore<\/strong>: Sun, thunder and rain! Add Football to it. The weather in Singapore stays pleasant but unpredictable. It\u2019s a welcome break from the humidity back home, lazy white puffs of cotton floating in the sky and the Sun preferring to play hide and seek all day. And when it hides, there are occasional thunders followed by an hour of drizzle.<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s no hiding in the Team India meeting sessions. The video sessions stay analytical as much they stay interactive. Coach Wim Koevermans <\/a>prefers to listen too as he lets the players speak. Mind you, he doesn\u2019t dissect it always, rather he asks the players to do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[539,5224],"class_list":["post-10841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-football-football","tag-gouramangi-singh","tag-wim-koevermans"],"yoast_head":"\nIndia all set to face Singapore in a friendly - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=10841\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"India all set to face Singapore in a friendly - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Singapore: Sun, thunder and rain! Add Football to it. The weather in Singapore stays pleasant but unpredictable. It\u2019s a welcome break from the humidity back home, lazy white puffs of cotton floating in the sky and the Sun preferring to play hide and seek all day. And when it hides, there are occasional thunders followed by an hour of drizzle. However, there\u2019s no hiding in the Team India meeting sessions. The video sessions stay analytical as much they stay interactive. Coach Wim Koevermans prefers to listen too as he lets the players speak. 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