Ho Chi Minh City, Aug 07: India's preparation for the Busan Asian games football would come under scrutiny when they take on defending champions Indonesia in the semi-final of the LG cup 2002 here tomorrow. A resurgent India, after beginning with a disappointing 2-2 draw with Singapore, came back strongly to beat Vietnam U-23 team 3-1 to reach the last four stage and would be hoping to continue their good show.
New coach Stephen Constantine was impressed with the performance of his wards, especially against Vietnam, and gave his side full marks on fitness.
"I must say the boys were still running hard at the final whistle and didn't look at all tired, which is a good sign." "The one area that I will look for improvement is the percentage of conversion of our chances. If this happens I am positive we will have a very good semi-final tomorrow".
The Englishman, who took over recently, couldn't help looking back at India's win yesterday saying it came in only their second competitive match.
"We were worthy winners. It was a really good performance by the team in only their second competitive match". Indians impressed using both the long ball and short passes to good effect and also surprised their opponents with the fast break on the counter.
In group a, Indonesia and Thailand U-20 both finished on same goals and points. But the former made the grade as they had beaten Thailand U-20 in their group encounter. Bureau Report