Chettri, who has been refused work-permit by the British government after he became the first Indian to be signed by a Championship club, Queen's Park Rangers, will be out to prove a point or two to everyone. Bhutia will be there to nudge him upfront.

For Houghton, his right-flank has been exceptional with both winger Steven Dias and wing-back Surkumar Singh combining well to rattle the opposition.

The left-flank, however, could do with a bit of enterprise to keep pace with others now that mid-fielder Renedy Singh, who captained the team Saturday, has regained his touch.

Houghton go in with his experienced hands, though the two trusted defenders Mahesh Gawli and Dipak Mondal should make up for their slowness with a bit of imagination, while Surkumar and Gourmangi Singh look adequate. Steven, Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep and Renedy should do keep attackers on their toes. But Houghton may also start with newcomer Anthony Pereira and then bring on Renedy at a later stage. This is the best line-up the Indians can think of.

The teams (from):

India: Subrata Paul, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury; Mahesh Gawli, Gourmangi Singh, Anwar, Surkumar Singh, Dipak Mondal, Sameer Naik; Climax Lawrence, Steven Dias, Renedy Singh, Anthony Pereira, Mehrajuddin Waddoo, Syed Rahim Nabi, N.P. Pradeep; Bhaichung Bhutia, Sunil Chettri, Sushil Singh, Abhishek Yadav

Syria: Mosab Blhousa, Moustafa Shakosh, Kawa Hisso; Abdulkader Dakka, Belal Abduldaim, Ali Dyab, Hamzeh Al Aitoni, Wael Ayan, Feras Esmaeel; Aatef Jenyat, Abdelrazaq Al Hussain, Alaa Alshbli, Moutaz Kaldini, Jwan Hisso, Ahmad Haj Mohamad, Bakri Tarrab, Firas Al Khatib, Mohamed Al Zeno, Abdul Fatah Alaga, Raja Rafe.