23 July 2008
http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_167804998.html
HYDERABAD: AFC Challenge Cup 2008 hosts India were held 1-1 by Malaysia in a warm-up game at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium on Tuesday.
Bob Houghton’s charges, who were drawn with the same opponent in the final round of 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, failed to penetrate the rival defence in the first half.
India captain Bhaichung Bhutia broke the deadlock on a deflection from Sunil Chhetri in the 57th minute but Indra Putra Sahdan restored the parity from the spot ten minutes from time.
Houghton said the match was technically good for his side as Surkumar Singh and K Ajayan played for the first time after recovering from injuries.
“Malaysia was a good opposition and played a competitive game technically,” he said.
Regarding AFC Challenge Cup, which will be played in Hyderabad from July 30 to August 10, he said: “The key for us would be to get good results at the initial stages of the competition. I have watched videos of some of our opponents and I think there are good teams in the competition.”
India have been slotted in Group A along side defending champions Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan and will begin their campaign against Afghanistan on July 30.
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