30th July 2008:
 
HYDERABAD - AFC Challenge Cup 2008 gets underway at Gachi Bowli Stadium ,Hyderabad
on Wednesday at 4 PM with Former Champions Tajikistan taking on Turkeministan in a
Group A encounter.Hosts India later play Afghanistan in the second Group A encounter
which will be played under Flood Lights and will kick off at 6.30 PM.India
India Coach Bob Houghton said that the best thing for India is to focus on the first
game because when you get past first game you can look at your chances.He added that
India will take each stage of the tournament step by step as they aim to lift the
trophy and secure a place at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
"We will try to win our first match against Afghanistan and if we do so then things
will be easier for us.
Despite being unfamiliar with the Afghans, Houghton warned that they should not be
underestimated, particularly after they qualified for the second edition of the AFC
Challenge Cup ahead of 2006 semi-finalists Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh, the 2003 SAFF
Championship winners.
"They could pull a surprise against us; nobody knows," added Houghton.
"It will be a very interesting match as they had a good start in the last SAFF
championship but they struggled with the heat (in Colombo) and the cooler weather
here could help them."
India have left out Tarif Ahmed and Goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya from the final
23 players list.
The matches will be telecast Live on ESPN and a Running Commentary will be available
on All India Radio for India's matches including Semi Finals and Finals.

India :Team (From) : Goalkeepers: Subhashish Roy Chowdhary & K Subrata Paul.
Defenders: Govin Mojranginem , I Surkumar Singh ,Mahesh Gawli ,Gouramangi Singh,
Deepak Mondal , Anwar , Syed Rahim Nabi,Samir Naik .
Midfielders : Baldeep Singh (Jr) ,Steven Dias ,Climax Lawrence ,N P Pradeep ,
Clifford Miranda ,Bungo Singh , Ajayan Krishanan Nair , Mehrajuddin Wadoo & Renedy
Singh.
Forwards : Baichung Bhutia , Sunil Chhetri , Abhishek Yadav & Sushil Singh
Officials :Chief Coach : Bob D Houghton GK Coach: Marcus A Pacheco Coach : Savio
Medeira Coach : Stanley Rozario Physical Trainer :Suresh Babu Doctor : Dr Arya Roy
Physio :Dr Gagan Kapoor & Manager :Pradeep Chowdhary
 
 
 
Source: www.the-aiff.com