Olympian Joaquim Carvalho was appointed as the Chief Coach of the national team in March 2007. His first international assignment has been Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held at Ipoh, Malaysia. The performance of India in the chronological order at Ipoh was as follows:
SULTAN AZLAN SHAH CUP
Lost to Australia 0-1
Defeat China 5-4
Defeat Argentina 2-0
Lost to Malaysia in the semis 1-2
Defeat South Korea 1-0 for Bronze
India thus retained the bronze it won in 2006.
Player of the Tournament: Andrew Smith (Australia)
Player of the Final: Edward Ockenden (Australia)
Top Scorer of the Tournament: Yi Song (China, 6 goals)
Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Kumar Subramaniam (Malaysia)
Fair Play Trophy: Argentina
The second tournament India took part was Champions Challenge Cup in Boom, Belgium. The performance of Indian team at Boom in the chronological order was as follows:
CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE CUP
Lost to New Zealand 0-2
Defeat England 3-2
Defeat Belgium 4-1
Lost to Argentina 1-2
Defeat Japan 4-3
Defeat England (3-4 decider) 4-3
The third assignment for India was the Asia Cup, which was the first home assignment for Joaquim Carvalho. The performance of Indian team at Chennai Asia Cup in the chronological order was as follows:
ASIA CUP
Defeat China 1-0
Defeat Sri Lanka 20-0
Defeat South Korea 3-2
Defeat Bangladesh
Defeat Thailand 16-1
Defeat Japan 4-1 in the semifinals
Defeat South Korea 7-2 in the finals
India thus retained the Asia Cup which it won at Kuala Lumpur in 2003.
Man of the Final Match: Baljit Singh (goalkeeper)
Over all summary of India’s performance in 2007 upto the end of Asia Cup
SUMMARy
Tournament Played: 3
Medals won: Bronze, Bronze, Gold in that order
Matches Played: 18
Won: 14
Drawn: 0
Lost: 4
Goals for: 83
Goals Against: 24
Highlights
Only one out of three tournaments was held in India.
India won a medal in all the three engagements
It has not lost to an Asian team so far
India is yet to meet strong European teams.
Note: the statistics given here are upto the end of Chennai Asia Cup. These will be updated as when tournaments take place.