Houghton wants to play positive and win against Saudi Arabia

Kolkata, Aug 6 (UNI) Indian Soccer coach Bob Houghton wants no less than a win against Saudi Arabia when the two sides clash in Aisa Cup qualifiers next Wednesday.

Talking to the media on the second day of the national camp, he said, ''Nothing lesser than a win will make me happy.'' ''I know that while making this statement it is extremely difficult to win against a team that is in the top 10 in Asia. But we cannot give up without an effort. We won the last two matches in Vancouver, but though its of little significance in this context, we have to continue with the habit.'' ''We can't go on playing a defensive game. One thing is for sure that I will be pushing the forwrads to their box and the midfield and defenders will go up. We will attack and have a very positive approach and that is the only way to play,'' he said.

''Mind you that though the side is Saudi Arabia, most of the players are African. They are big, tough and will play physical soccer. I coached the top club there, Itihad, and have seen their style of play. So we have to be very strong and tough in our approach,'' he said.

He coach, Meanwhile, was also clorried about injuries in the team. While Alvito D'Cunha had a hamstring problem, Debabrata Roy has jaundice, Mahesh Gawli has a knee uinjury and K Ajayan has been bitten by a dog. He has called Jop Paul Ancheri for the camp and will have to work on him.

He is, optimistic about Baichung Bhutia. ''I will have a talk with him today. And even if he joins the camp on Tuesday and plays Wednesday, I will have no problems. We have no ego problems and have a very good relation. So lets see.'' There is a lot of hope in the raw talents and we need to nurture them for better results,'' he said.

He also laid out the next few matches of the senior team as the testing ground for future steps. ''We will play against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah and then agaisnt Japan and finally against Yemen in Sanna.

These are tough matches but we have to prove ourselves in these games,'' he said.

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