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Bhutan's
Sports: Football |
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Bhutan's
Sports: Football |
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A
look at football in Bhutan
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World
Cup 2002: The other final - Bhutan met Montserrat |
Head
bent against the wind, Wangay Dorji looks like a man with a mission. He
hurtles through the ground wrestling the ball from his teammates as if
the showdown was real. Thimphu XI players practice four hours a day;
(right) Mr. Arie Schans: "Some have fantastic attacking skills"
Bhutan
prepares to meet Montserrat
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The
intensity is understandable. Wangay is the captain of Bhutan's football
team, Thimphu XI, and for the last many weeks he has been practicing hard
to take his team to victory against Montserrat's national football team
in the upcoming "other final" in Thimphu. Taking on teams from Thailand,
Nepal, and some of the best clubs in India last year, and in recent months
South Korea and Nepal again, the general feeling is that enough exposures
and experiences have been gained to play in this FIFA authorized international
friendly. Bhutan's new national coach Mr. Arie Schans from Holland
has coached both professional and amateurs football teams for 31 years
back home including a five-year stint in Japan and is one of the teachers
at the Royal Dutch Soccer Association. Under his watchful eyes, Thimphu
XI players are grilled four hours daily starting from 9:30 in the morning,
while the whole of Thimphu is glued to TV watching the World Cup.
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On
June 30 Thimphu XI will take on Montserrat here at the capital's Changlimithang
ground, a few hours before the World Cup final at Yokohama, Japan. Montserrat
is a small Caribbean island on the other side of the globe with a population
of 4,000. Bhutan and Montserrat are the most recent members of the
FIFA and the two lowest ranked teams in the world: Montserrat is last at
203 and Bhutan at 202. Football fans are excited about the whole thing
and "very much" looking forward to the match. But whatever the outcome
of the match, one thing will be certain: that football is more about "spirit"
than about the best teams and the best players in the world.
top
Bhutan
wins 'the other final'
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The
"other final", between an island and a mountain, offered the Thimphu home
crowd a taste of the "spirit of football", according to organisers
and spectors who packed the Changlimithang stadium. |
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The
third goal in the second-half
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The
standard was as good as it could get, considering that the teams rank 202
and 203 on FIFA's list. But the match itself was overwhelmed by the spirit
of festivity as thousand of students, the business community, and government
officials got caught up in the spirit of the event. As the players made
their way onto the pitch the Bhutanese crowd, usually known to favour visiting
teams, broke out into 'Hot Hot Hot' to the surprise of the Montserrat team.
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A
Montserrat attack against Druk XI within the first two minutes was stopped
by the Druk XI goal keeper.... only just. A slightly unnerved Bhutanese
crowd was relieved when the team captain, Wangyel Dorji, headed a corner
kick into the post five minutes into the match. It was not an impressive
goal but gave the Bhutanese the lead and a much-needed encouragement.
Druk XI mounted attack after attack but lacked finish, kicking the ball
far above the post. |
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At
half time Druk XI coach Arie Schans kept the team under control and reminded
them that they needed to settle down, organize themselves and choose their
time to attack. 20 minutes into the second half Wangyel took a free kick
to score the second goal awarded by English FA referee Steve Bennet . Montserrat
launched two or three attacks on the Bhutanese goal but lacked coordination
and a striker.
Dinesh
Chetteri Bhutan's veteran striker scored an easy third goal 10 minutes
after his captain, drawing another roar from the home crowd. With three
goals down and time running out the Montserrat team was visibly tired as
the Bhutanese captain completed his hat trick with the fourth goal in the
final minutes.
Speaking
about their victory team captain, Wangyel Dorji, of Druk XI said, "It feels
great. After we scored the first goal our confidence grew and we tried
to make as many chances to score again, eventually leading to the next
three during the match. Monsterrat played well but the altitude seemed
to be their weakness." |
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Montserrat
captain, Charles Thompson, said: "It was a good game... very competitive.
We played really hard and we accept defeat. I think we played to the spirit
of FIFA and what football is about." "The altitude was a big factor and
the conditions we are unaccustomed to, we'd like the chance for Druk XI
to come to our place and play there. Food poisoning on our way in was also
a blow when nine of our players were ill mid-week." In another hour the
two teams will sit together not as competitive players but as friends and
fans to watch an almost anti climatic world cup final between Germany and
Brazil.
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Contributed
byKuensel, Bhutan's National Newspaper 2002 |
Information on Bhutan |
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