Five consecutive losses and 12 goals later, the Indian football team finally secured a win in their qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup. While in the grand scheme of things, their tightly fought 1-0 win over Guam on Thursday may not really count for much, the Blue Tigers have at least made a statement to demonstrate that they belong on this stage.
In the backdrop of this match, India had dropped down to 172 in the world rankings, only one place above their worst ever ranking of 173. Back in June, India had travelled to Guam shores with the positions reversed – Guam were ranked almost 30 places below them. They came away with a bloodied nose, losing 2-1 in an abject performance. Since then, this Indian team’s performance has been in freefall – losing every match they played with a consequent dip in the rankings. The return encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium had been billed as a revenge game but few Indian fans held out much hope.
Surprisingly aggressive
“The road is long but the belief is everything,” proclaimed a massive banner at the stadium from the West Block Blues. Amidst a rainy Bangalore evening, the kick-off was delayed by a few minutes due to the flood-lights but once it started, India went firmly on the aggressive, a welcome change from their previous matches where they were often tentative at the start.
The Indian Super League is often accused of not doing enough for Indian football, but Sunil Chhetri and Robin Singh both put that criticism to bed in the 10th minute. Both the strikers replicated their good form from the Indian Super League in a stunning move to put in India in front. Chhetri demonstrated great skill to run after a long ball from keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and then pulling it back for a neat pass towards Singh. Singh then cut inside a defender and unleashed a sublime shot into the under-side of the bar. And just like that India had taken the lead!
The early goal had stunned Guam but they soon started pressing hard. India’s defence however proved equal to the task, with Sandhu pulling off some great saves. Nor did India drop anchor – they pulled forward with equal pace and never looked to sit back on their slim lead. However, things were soured a little with an incident right at the end of the first half. Delhi’s Sehnaj Singh, for reasons best put to him, went piling into an awful, studs-up tackle on Guam’s Justin Lee. It was a horror tackle from the Chandigarh man and the referee was well-justified in showing him a red card.
Sandhu steps up
With ten men down and an entire half to play, things had suddenly become more difficult for the Tigers. Guam started pressing their advantage home, getting dangerously close with three chances in the first ten minutes of the second half. Their numerical advantage was showing but to give credit where it is due, India’s defence was in brilliant form. Arnab Mandal made some key saves to thwart Guam again and again but it was Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who shone the brightest. The only bright spot in an otherwise drab qualifying campaign, Sandhu was finally rewarded with a victory for yet another heroic effort, making save after save to ensure that India held on to their lead.
There was heartbreak for Guam in the 79th minute. Midfielder Ryan Guy managed to get on the end of a well-directed corner and expertly guided it into the net. The celebrations were immediately stopped, however, by the linesman who ruled that the corner had curled behind the goal line. Six minutes later, captain Chhetri went on a brilliant counter-attacking run, cutting through a defender with the ball just going wide. With Guam pressing forward in the dying minutes, Sandhu put the stamp on a perfect evening with a point-blank save in the 90th minute.
It has been a long and hard campaign for India. The losses kept piling up one after the another with the coach Stephen Constantine became more and more frustrated. Criticism flowed in from all quarters with football fans becoming increasingly annoyed with the team’s performance. These precious three points will have come as a godsend. With still two games to hope, the hope is that the Blue Tigers can kick on from this impressive feat.
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In the backdrop of this match, India had dropped down to 172 in the world rankings, only one place above their worst ever ranking of 173. Back in June, India had travelled to Guam shores with the positions reversed – Guam were ranked almost 30 places below them. They came away with a bloodied nose, losing 2-1 in an abject performance. Since then, this Indian team’s performance has been in freefall – losing every match they played with a consequent dip in the rankings. The return encounter at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium had been billed as a revenge game but few Indian fans held out much hope.
Surprisingly aggressive
“The road is long but the belief is everything,” proclaimed a massive banner at the stadium from the West Block Blues. Amidst a rainy Bangalore evening, the kick-off was delayed by a few minutes due to the flood-lights but once it started, India went firmly on the aggressive, a welcome change from their previous matches where they were often tentative at the start.
The Indian Super League is often accused of not doing enough for Indian football, but Sunil Chhetri and Robin Singh both put that criticism to bed in the 10th minute. Both the strikers replicated their good form from the Indian Super League in a stunning move to put in India in front. Chhetri demonstrated great skill to run after a long ball from keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and then pulling it back for a neat pass towards Singh. Singh then cut inside a defender and unleashed a sublime shot into the under-side of the bar. And just like that India had taken the lead!
The early goal had stunned Guam but they soon started pressing hard. India’s defence however proved equal to the task, with Sandhu pulling off some great saves. Nor did India drop anchor – they pulled forward with equal pace and never looked to sit back on their slim lead. However, things were soured a little with an incident right at the end of the first half. Delhi’s Sehnaj Singh, for reasons best put to him, went piling into an awful, studs-up tackle on Guam’s Justin Lee. It was a horror tackle from the Chandigarh man and the referee was well-justified in showing him a red card.
Sandhu steps up
With ten men down and an entire half to play, things had suddenly become more difficult for the Tigers. Guam started pressing their advantage home, getting dangerously close with three chances in the first ten minutes of the second half. Their numerical advantage was showing but to give credit where it is due, India’s defence was in brilliant form. Arnab Mandal made some key saves to thwart Guam again and again but it was Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who shone the brightest. The only bright spot in an otherwise drab qualifying campaign, Sandhu was finally rewarded with a victory for yet another heroic effort, making save after save to ensure that India held on to their lead.
There was heartbreak for Guam in the 79th minute. Midfielder Ryan Guy managed to get on the end of a well-directed corner and expertly guided it into the net. The celebrations were immediately stopped, however, by the linesman who ruled that the corner had curled behind the goal line. Six minutes later, captain Chhetri went on a brilliant counter-attacking run, cutting through a defender with the ball just going wide. With Guam pressing forward in the dying minutes, Sandhu put the stamp on a perfect evening with a point-blank save in the 90th minute.
It has been a long and hard campaign for India. The losses kept piling up one after the another with the coach Stephen Constantine became more and more frustrated. Criticism flowed in from all quarters with football fans becoming increasingly annoyed with the team’s performance. These precious three points will have come as a godsend. With still two games to hope, the hope is that the Blue Tigers can kick on from this impressive feat.