With Saturday's 4-1 win over Puerto Rico at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai, India's football team looks set to jump up the rankings. After all, the Blue Tigers, ranked 152nd in the world, have defeated an opponent 38 places above them.
Undaunted by the rivals' rank, though, the Indians produced a consistently attacking display. Goals from Narayan Das, captain Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Jackichand Singh won the match for the hosts after an early penalty from Emanuel Sanchez had put the visitors in front.
Not an unexpected win
So what kind of win was this? Was it a huge improvement on previous performances, an expected showing against under-strength opponents, or an outlier? The answer probably lies somewhere between the first two, with the attack showing good energy combined with high pressing and direct football.
Much has been made of Puerto Rico’s 114th ranking, but therein lies a major weakness in the FIFA ranking system; the jumps at lower levels are often too radical to reflect real form. The islanders, who were 158th in June 2016, jumped 46 places in July on the back of a solitary win, a 2-1 victory over Antigua and Barbuda, ranked 83rd at the time.
So, India's win was essentially a routine one over a jet-lagged opposition with key players missing, and an average ranking of 164 since the FIFA World rankings were introduced. With the home advantage, a near full strength, and plenty of preparation time, India had all the odds stacked in its favour.
Good day for the frontmen
But that should not distract from the fact that the attack held up its end of the bargain and dazzled on a day when the team’s initial bullishness could so easily have faded out after an initial setback. It was a good day to be an attacker in blue as Jeje Lalpekhlua scored his seventh goal in as many matches, continuing his superb run of form.
Playing just behind him, captain Sunil Chhetri was responsible for three of India's four goals, his free kicks a constant source of worry for the opposition. The midfield quartet of Jackichand Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Pronay Halder and Bikash Jairu had a starting position very high up the field. To their credit, they did not fall back even after the visitors had scored first.
After his initial mistake in conceding a penalty, Jackichand Singh redeemed himself by smashing in the fourth goal. Lyngdoh ran the show from the midfield, sending long, raking balls beyond Puerto Rico’s last line of defence. Halder put in a few crunching tackles in the opposition half.
The attackers were ably supported by full-backs Narayan Das and Pritam Kotal, who stretched the play for the home team, sending in dangerous crosses from the wings.
The plan was simple and it was executed to good effect. Long balls from the back were played down the middle, testing the opposition centre-backs with Chhetri and Lalpekhlua running behind them, creating channels of space for the Indian midfielders to move into.
But the defence is still suspect
As the scoreline suggests, it was a bad day for the Puerto Rico defenders, but what it doesn’t reflect is that it was a struggle for the home defence too at times.
The islanders were visibly tired after their long flight and did not have three of their best attackers. Still they managed to make life difficult for goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, forcing him into several key saves. On the defensive side of things, he was possibly the only one of the back five to emerge with some credit from this match.
From the outset, Sandesh Jhingan and partner Arnab Mondal looked susceptible to pace and were soundly beaten on a few occasions by the pacy opposition, only for the post or the goalkeeper to save their blushes. The defence appeared timid and sat deep, miles away from the high pressing their midfield counterparts were engaging in, thus leaving huge gaps between midfield and defence for the opposition to stream through, a direct ticket into the final third.
Puerto Rico were wasteful on the night, but a more clinical side might have put the home side to the sword. There were a lot of positives from this game for coach Constantine, but he will need to take a harder look at his defence. After all, goals win matches but clean sheets ensure a draw at the very least.
Constantine and team India have ample time to experiment and tinker with the line-up before the start of the next phase of qualification for the Asian Cup. Twelve of the remaining 24 nations in the Asian Cup qualifying rounds will make it to the showpiece event in 2019 to be held in the UAE, and that should be India’s highest priority.