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Houghton wants to beat Syria even if final berth is assured

Last Updated 28 August 2009, 06:28 IST

 
India, who have six points from three matches, play Syria on Saturday. They

may book a place in the final even before that match if Lebanon lose their last match against Syria and Sri Lanka fail to beat Kyrgyzstan.

But Houghton said he would want to beat Syria, the highest ranked side in the five-nation tournament, to carry the winning momentum into the final on August 31.

"We may not need to beat Syria to make it to the final. But we want to win every match and so we want to beat Syria in our last match," Houghton said after the team's training session at a city college ground here.

"Syria are a strong side but we can beat them. We played an outstanding game against Sri Lanka and hope to carry on the good work," he added.
Goalkeeper Subrata Paul said his side deserved to be in the final of the tournament.

"We played well in the last two months and we deserve to be in the final of Nehru Cup," he said.
Asked about Syria match, Paul said, "Syria are a strong side but we can beat them. We lost in the league game against them in the 2007 tournament but we beat them in the final. So we can beat them."

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(Published 28 August 2009, 06:27 IST)

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