A NIGHT TO FORGET

New Delhi: India’s fight was slowly but surely stifled by Ghana. The contest can at best be called a mismatch.

Suffering through 90 minutes, Indian juniors finished their World Cup journey with a lesson to remember – a lesson in attacking football, where the Ghanian wingers expressed the joy of dribble.

Sadiq Ibrahim was a treat to watch and one may hope to see him in a famous club shirt soon. Out of four, the first two goals, scored by captain Eric Ayiah, were from Ibrahim’s delightful assists.

Expectations of naïve partisan fans reached fever pitch but they failed to read the signs that shone brightly across the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday evening.

For reasons best known to Luis Norton De Matos, four changes were rolled in from the team that raised visions of something great last Monday against Colombia. It was a false dawn.

Namit Deshpande was missing from defence. Rahim Ali, Abhijit Sarkar and N Meetei started from the bench.

What hurt India most was Namit’s not playing beside Anwar Ali. Though the Punjab boy played the lone wolf inside the box, it was too much to ask from him, Prescient was De Matos’ words when he had warned about Ghana’s prowess down the flanks. Repeated assaults by Ibrahim, the sturdy right winger, left Sanjeev Stalin clueless. It was an evening the young Sanjeev will find hard to forget.

Faster off the blocks and earning the first corner in the first minute itself, India left the fans asking for more. They had already given the boys in blue a heroes’ welcome when they went in for warm-up.

Captain Ayiah must have had a quiet chuckle then.

The order from the top was crystal clear. Ibrahim will attack from the right while Gideon Mensah must keep the left flank burning. Struggling to handle the pace and verve, Indians opted for safety-first. Clearances became hasty, passes became rare as punting high and far was the order of the day. Still, it couldn’t save India’s night.

Sadiq’s low hard cross, one of the many he delivered all through the first session, was punched out by Dheeraj Moiranghthem. The ball found Ayiah who blasted from close. The citadel fell two minutes from interval, even though one could see it coming for long.

Till then, Anwar and Jitendra Singh kept their shape and held their line even under desperate bombardment. They were catching Issac Gyamfi, the Ghanian striker, off-side. But the raids were coming thick and fast. Boris Thangjam ran himself ragged on the right. Mensah got him so washed out, that he looked in serious trouble even before the interval.

So intense was Ghana’s pressure and so overwhelming, that following the first corner, India found it hard to take the fight across the half-line.

Captain Ayiah made it 2-0 in the 52nd. Again an attack from the right allowed Ayiah a lot of room with the goal in sight. His l eft- footer got the better of Dheeraj, for the second time in the evening. Half-time talk of De Matos failed to bring any change in India’s performance. Defending could only earn you so much against the Ghanaians. As they say, “Only one team was playing football,” and that was Ghana, unfortunately.

Sadiq was replaced almost immediately, to keep him fresh for tougher battles in the knockout stage. To make matters worse, substitutes Richard Danso added the third while Emmanuel Toku completed the rout with the fourth.

What could have been a night to remember turned out to be a night to forget. Living up to the billing, Gouiri has taken the tournament by storm. Showing good speed and control, and powered by accurate shooting, the French striker is proving to be too hot to handle for the opponent defenders. After scoring a brace each in the first two matches, he is the tournament’s top scorer. been a revelation. His composure, positioning sense and technique have attracted even the scouts in the tournament. But for Dheeraj’s superlative saves, India would have lost the matches by bigger margins. BEST GOAL: Gouiri’s second goal vs Japan: Gouiri was spot-on with his placement and finish. Adli made a run from the top of the box and exchanged passes with Gouiri. The understanding between the two left the crowded Japan defence clueless. Getting the final ball, Gouiri slotted home with a flourish.