Reaching final is daunting task: Houghton

New Delhi:

National football coach Bob Houghton on Friday said it will be a daunting task for India to defend the Nehru Cup title as they have to win all the remaining matches to reach the final.

Houghton knows that the road ahead is full of obstacles but hoped the hosts will shrug off the first match defeat to get back to winning track.

After 0-1 defeat against Lebanon, India now have to win all three league engagements - against Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan and Syria - to make the summit clash.

"We have a daunting task in front of us. Probably we have to win all our matches if we want to defend the title," Houghton said after the rain-affected practice session here. Houghton also rued the missed chances during the opening match against Lebanon on Wednesday.

"We created more opportunities than Lebanon. But we were unlucky to lose. Hopefully we will put up a better performance in the rest of the matches," the Englishman said.

Heavy rains along with stormy wind forced the players to run for shelter and early close to the practice session.

Houghton also hoped that defender Anwar would re-gain fitness ahead of India's next match against Kyrgyzstan, which was pushed back to Sunday.

"An extra day of rest will be good. Anwar still has a sore thigh but hopefully will get fit for the match," Houghton said.

The rains washed out today's match between Sri Lanka and Lebanon, pushing it to tomorrow and thus forcing rescheduling India's match.

Lebanon will now take on Sri Lanka tomorrow.