India's Asiad football campaign begins tomorrow

Despite recent successes in international matches, India is in no mood to take Bangladesh lightly in their opening Group C fixture in the 14th Asian Games football tournament, at Ulsan, near Busan, South Korea, on Friday.

Twenty-four teams are participating in the tournament. Six matches are scheduled for Friday, two days ahead of the opening ceremony.

The Indians, who have shown a marked improvement under new English coach Stephen Constantine in the last couple of months, appear to enjoy a slight edge over their neighbours on current form but can hardly afford to be complacent in what promises to be a keenly-contested affair.

Skipper Baichung Bhutia and his new-look team will be hoping to keep the momentum going and start the tournament on a victorious note though winning a medal in the championship, which has a number of strong teams like hosts South Korea, Japan, China and Uzbekistan, will be very tough.

The Indians, who arrived in this port city a few days in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions, are clubbed with China, Bangladesh and Turkmenistan.

The recent victory in the six-nation LG Cup has served as a huge confidence booster for the team, which is suddenly looking a lot more organised and competitive on the field.

A lot of credit for the transformation must go to Constantine, who has brought about new work ethic in the team, with emphasis on discipline and endurance. The boys seem to have gelled well with Constantine and the results have started to show to some extent.

The players had a light work-out on Thursday and the mood in the camp is upbeat.

"We are confident of doing well" captain Bhutia said.

The Indians, who had won a medal in 1962, will be more determined to break the medal drought this time around but it will need a stupendous performance from the team to make that happen. The team had won the gold medal in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games thanks to the brilliant efforts of P K Banerjee and Jarnail Singh.

The only other time India won a gold medal was in the inaugural edition of the Games in New Delhi in 1951 but after the 1962 triumph, nothing has really come their way, much to the disappointment of football lovers in the country.

Known for their never-say-die spirit, Bangladesh have often proved a hard nut to crack for the Indians and honours have more or less been shared in the last decade.

Seasoned defender Debjit Ghosh has some experience of playing against the Bangladeshis while Renedy Singh also enjoys a fair idea about his opponents.

"We will go into the match with a positive frame of mind. We have played some tough matches against Bangladesh but we are confident of overcoming them. We have been playing quite well in recent times," senior player Ghosh said.