THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (KERALA): The 16-day India’s premier Soccer bonanza Jawaharlal Nehru International Golf Cap Football Tournament which ended here failed to sparkle once again.

The moderate crowd which had braved the hot sun to watch the tournament found very little to enthuse it and had to go home disappointed as most of the matches failed to offer any thrills and were pedestrian in character.

The standard of the teams except winners Romania and the Soviet Union and to some extent defending champions Hungary did not rise to any great heights. They just could not cope with the better equipped sides from Europe and went down without offering much fight.

Even on days the better outfits were battling it out with each other. They failed to come out with the sparkling soccer that was expected from them Of course there were some which offered some thrills to whet the appetite of the goodly crowed but these -were few and far between.

However Romania was one side that relieved the monotony by its consistent hot and spicy performance. It was the best equipped side and it was only in the fitness things that it should lift the trophy and take it home for the first time. Setting up a “scorching pace from its very encounter in the six-term round robin league Romania maintained it till the end Romania maintained it till the end it also improved from “match to match.

Though not very experienced the Romanians were the fittest team in the championship and exhibited fine ball control. They were a determined lot and in their very first match sounded a warning they were not to be trifled with.

Their defense in which Panait with able Resistance from sedecaru did an outstanding job throughout was sound.

Another who started in their side was the mercurial Lon Vladoiu. At times he tended to hang on to the ball far too long but he always managed to achieve what he wanted. He was their playmaker and had the forwards on the move always. The Stand Raduta and Piguiea too contributed to the Romanians success in no small measure.

The Hungarians making a bid to retain the Cup for the second time in a row were not a goal hungry as their neighbors the Romanians. Their ageing players however did a competent job bringing their experience into play.

They thwarted Soviet Union’s efforts to make the final grade by holding them to a draw. They were & rugged side and quite capable of upsetting their opponents with “physical football” if necessary Their best asset was their tall and well-built custodian Brochauser. Very agile and with a keen Sense of participation Brochauser stood many a time firmly between their rivals and a goal.

In the front line was short and heavily built Rugovics with his dashing runs. He posed a threat but lacked the skill to translate his move into goals. But Kereszturi and Duro displayed thrust and enterprise.

But it was to their solid and well built “defenders that Hungary owed their entry into the fast two stage. They were plucky giving nothing away and nipping many a rival move in the bud. If they could not succeed in standing up to the Romanian onslaught in the final it was mainly because of the hot pace set up by the Romanian’s r the repeated thrust of their forwards.

Four times winners of the trophy. Soviet Union was unlucky not to have entered final. They were a young side with comparatively little experience compared to Romania of Hungary.

The teams consisted mostly of player “who had taken part in junior tournaments But they stole the hearts of the public by heir valiant show They rather lost tamely “to the Romanians bat playing the Hungarians they put up an outstanding show.

The match mostly belonged to them had they succeeded in their efforts in the last 20 minutes or so they would have made a triumphant entry into the final. Still the honor of scoring maximum number of goals in the tournament went to their star striker Kiriyakov (six)

It was the Liaoning Club side that represented China in the tournament. Ma Lin who did a splendid job for that country the last time Nehru Cup was held at this venue in 1986 was the star of the side but the ageing star could do very little. Their performance was not impressive and they crashed out of the tournament as they could muster only three points two of them coming from their only win against hosts India.

Zambia is claimed to be m the process of building up its national side and hence the team that took part in the championships consisted of youngsters most of them in their teens. Though they showed grit and a willingness to fight they could hardly stand up to their more seasoned rivals.

Statistically India’s performance this year was a shade better than on previous occasions.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 15, 1991