Bhutia blows whistle on referees

Indian football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia Sunday said bad refereeing at UAE and Yemen prevented his team from winning either of the games in the Asian Zone Group-8 qualifying matches.

A tired-looking Bhutia told reporters after the team's arrival here that it was very disappointing for him personally to see his team suffer in the middle as he watched from the sidelines after receiving two yellow cards against UAE which India lost 0-1.

"The refereeing in the match against Yemen on Friday, where we were held to a 3-3 draw was equally bad and at the same time I should say we failed to defend the 3-2 lead which we had got through acting captain IM Vijayan," he added.

"Now we have two games against Brunei and we will go all out to win as we still have an outside chance of making it to the next round," Bhutia said.

When asked whether his presence could have made any difference to the outcome of the match, Bhutia said, "It could have, as Vijayan and I had combined well at Bangalore and we had a very good understanding between us which was disturbed to a large extent when I had to sit out against Yemen."

Indian coach Sukhwinder Singh said that the refereeing in Yemen was "better than what it was against UAE" but the "ground conditions at Yemen was very slippery due to rains and this created problems" for his team.

"Our forward line played their heart out and helped us take a 3-2 lead six minutes from half time but our defence was found wanting. If our defenders were more practical on the field then I think we could have had a win on our hand," Sukhwinder added.

"I also think Bhutia's absence made a lot of difference to the outcome of the match and it must have been very disappointing for him to see his team's performance from the sidelines," Sukhwinder said and added, "I personally felt that quite a few decisions went against us but then we have to take it in our strides and hopefully do well in the next two games on hand."

He added, "Though it is very difficult to predict our chances of making it to the next round, with a little bit of luck and hard work I still think we can pull it off.

"The boys are very tired and we will rest today and start our practice session from tomorrow. It has been a little disappointing for the boys as well but they have to get over it and focus on the next two matches," Sukhwinder added.

Sukhwinder's real test starts now till the next seven months when India will play two matches in Brunei, the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur, the tour of England, the Afro-Asian Games and then the SAF Cup.