Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Aiming for qualification from the group stages, the Indian National Team ended up on the losing side going down 0-2 to hosts United Arab Emirates in their second Group stage match of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The Blue Tigers next play Bahrain in their last match on January 14. India are presently on three points from 2 matches, the same as Thailand, with UAE currently topping the group with 4 points from 2 matches.

It was a day when the Indians hit the post twice in the second half and muffed two in the first-half. Alhamsi’s 40th-minute strike much against the run of play, and then Ali Mabkhout’s 80th-minute goal played villain on a night where the Blue Tigers gave the hosts the scare of their lives from the first minute itself.

It just seemed like fate did not allow India to score.

In the first half, India could have almost sealed it. The Blue Tigers started with an attacking intensity, and although lacked possession, chances came in bright and plenty.

India could have surged into the lead as early as the 8th minute when Sandesh Jhingan got a free-header off a corner kick but headed it wide.

Three minutes later, the Arab custodian Khalid Bilal pulled out a world class save to break Indian hearts and deny Ashique Kuruniyan’s shot from close range after Sunil Chhetri had put him through.

If that wasn’t enough of a goal scoring chance, skipper Chhetri was handed a golden opportunity in the 23rd minute. Chhetri was found in the box by Anirudh Thapa but his header went straight to the rival Goalkeeper.

Had India taken these chances, the Blue Tigers would have been up 3-0 in less than thirty minutes — such was the intensity of their counter-attacks which was promoted through the defensive solidity at the back.

With India unable to take their chances, UAE scored against the run of play in the 40th minute. Khalfan Alhamsi took advantage of a slight miscommunication in the Indian defence and found the back of the net through a chip from a tight angle.

India had another chance to open their goalscoring tally after the UAE defence fluffed a routine clearance providing Sunil Chhetri with a tight angle to score. Chhetri’s placement went inches past the goal as India failed to capitalize and went trailing into the breather.

Changing over, the chances kept coming for India. In the 53rd minute, Jeje Lalpekhlua, who was brought on as a substitute for Halicharan Narzay, tried to slyly chip past the goalkeeper from range after a failed clearance fell to his chest. His shot, however, went past the goal and the UAE goalkeeper.

In the 55th minute, the Blue Tigers rattled the crossbar after Udanta Singh’s shot kissed the bar and went away, following a one-two with Sunil Chhetri inside the box.

In the 73rd minute, however, UAE skipper’s Alhammadi’s shot rattled the left post.

But they had the last laugh when in the 88th minute, Ali Mabkhout breached India’s defence and found the back of the net to take it beyond India’s reach.

A desperate India went all out and UAE had another close shave when Sandesh Jhingan’s header off a Rowllin Borges’ free-kick bounced back off the bar.

(AIFF Media | Picture: AFC Media)

The Team

India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Udanta Singh (Jackichand Singh 79′), Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa (Rowllin Borges 70′), Halicharan Narzary (Jeje Lalpekhlua 45′), Ashique Kuruniyan, Sunil Chhetri (C)

India 0 lost to United Arab Emirates 2 (Khalfan Alhamsi 40’, Ali Mabkhout 88’)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: After a comprehensive 4-1 victory against Thailand in the first league match, Indian defender Pritam Kotal feels that India are well-prepared to take on hosts UAE in their next match on Thursday (January 10), at the Sheikh Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi.

Kotal, who played a stellar role as right wing back for India keeping Thailand’s Chanathip Songskrasin quiet in the previous game, said that the team has made specific plans for the hosts.

“We have our plans for the UAE game. You will be able to see them while we implement it on the pitch,” said the defender. “They are a very good side. We have a lot of respect for them. But we are ready to give it a real fight.”

When asked whether Blue Tigers view UAE as their toughest opponents in the group stage, Kotal expressed “every match is a difficult one.”

You can’t really say which match is tough. Before the Thailand game, would anybody have said that it was going to be easy? Every match is tough. We expect UAE to be a tough game too. They are the hosts. We have to fight in every game and aim to take three points. Pritam Kotal – Defender

The Indian defence played a key role in keeping the Thai attackers at bay in their last game, and Kotal believes that the back-four has a good chemistry between themselves.

“Our back four has been playing together for some time now. That has built up our understanding, and the chemistry,” he continued. “We always talk to each other, tell each other where to position ourselves, whom to mark. This has obviously improved since we have been playing together for some time.”

(AIFF Media)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Before taking on hosts UAE in their second match of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, coach Stephen Constantine stressed that the “game is played on the pitch, not on paper.”

We know all the three games are going to be very tough. There’ll be no easy game at this level. But we’ll go toe-to-toe with them. A game is not played on paper, but on the pitch. The UAE are the hosts and will be under pressure. It’s understandable they will go for all three points. Stephen Constantine – Coach

The match which is scheduled to be played at the gigantic Sheikh Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi tomorrow (January 10, 2019) will be telecast live on Star Sports 2, 3 and will also be streamed live on Hotstar. The kick-off is slated for IST 9.30pm.

UAE are currently ranked 79 in the FIFA rankings, and they have been on the winning side on eight occasions against India out of 13 matches played between the two sides. The Blue Tigers have won thrice.

The last encounter between these two sides which took place at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi in 2011 had ended in a 2-2 draw, with the last goal being scored by Jeje Lalpekhlua.

“Jeje is a very good player. But unfortunately, he did not have much game time recently. You put Jeje in the position and he will score for you. I was so happy that he scored the goal against Thailand. He deserves to get the goal, especially at this level,” the coach was all praise for the Mizo sniper.

Constantine added: “They are a physical, as well as a skillful side. I am not worried about our fitness. We have to play our best game to get the result.”

Sunil Chhetri, who added another two to his International goal scoring tally in the last outing, also earned huge plaudits from the coach. The two goals took him to 67, surpassing Lionel Messi in the highest scoring active player’s list.

“Sunil has always given everything whenever he has played for the National Team. I can’t complain about this. He is there to do his job and his job is to score goals. He has a phenomenal scoring record and we’re better with him in the team,” the Coach maintained.

“Against Thailand, we gave the ball away too many times which put the opposition in an advantageous position. We have to look after the ball better. I feel we started a bit nervous. Some young boys were too eager to press. We can’t repeat it against UAE.”

Meanwhile, deploying Ashique Kuruniyan up front alongside Sunil Chhetri proved to be a perfect masterstroke by the 55-year-old coach. When he was asked whether he has any further trickery up his sleeves, he quipped: “You have to wait and see.”

(AIFF Media)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: In today’s dynamic world of football, it’s not easy to go out and perform day in and day out, especially when your performance is being scrutinized from every possible angle. Amidst all of the analysis by all of India’s opponents, Sunil Chhetri has made it look so easy, no matter whichever team he faces.

A day after the talismanic striker surpassed Lionel Messi in the highest scoring active player’s list, courtesy his brace against Thailand in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 opener, Chhetri spoke at a length about the victory, the team, his fitness mantra, debut, getting past Messi and much more.

Excerpts:

Did you foresee this day on your debut against Pakistan in 2005?

Never. Not even in my wildest fantasies, I thought that this would happen to me. Playing for my country the very first time was so enjoyable, memorable and nothing less than a great honour. But, I never thought that I would go on to play so many games and score goals for India.

What’s the secret behind your sublime goal-scoring form?

There is no secret behind these results. I am blessed to have played the game with the best of the teammates – both for all my clubs and Country. Both in Bengaluru FC and India, everyone helps me out. They support me and that is very important. I just try to continue doing the best for the team and the result follows.

You have redefined the fitness of late. How do you maintain it?

There is absolutely no secret. You have to just work hard and make sure you train well. Most importantly you need to eat and sleep well. The fact that I love playing Football, and playing for my country drives me to push further. I think I am undergoing the phase when I’m the fastest, fittest in my life. I don’t think age is a barrier for me.

Has the win sunk in already? How did you guys enjoy the victory?

We did nothing to enjoy. It’s just about sticking to the routine. We had the recovery sessions, and now the gym. It’s not done yet and nothing has been achieved so far. It was a decent win but just one win, no more or no less.

What’s the plan ahead?

We have to focus for the 10th, the match against hosts UAE. It will be a very difficult game. If you ask me — without taking anything from Thailand, the least difficult one among the three matches was against Thailand.

The most difficult game one will be against the UAE and lest we forget, Bahrain will be equally tough for us. We are concentrating on the next one now and we need to give a good account of ourselves.

Ashique was deployed in a new role yesterday. How do you analyse his performance?

Pretty good, I must say. It was a new position for him as he generally does not play as a striker. But he worked really hard. Jeje is the talisman for us. He is probably one of the main reasons why we have reached the Asian Cup finals. So it was quite a task for him to fill in Jeje’s shoes.

Before the Asian Cup, you told that defenders have a tough task to cut out. How did our boys fare last night?

It was a top-notch performance by everyone. Right from Gurpreet, Subhasish, Anas, Sandesh, Pritam – everyone was so good. At times, the whole team dig deep to defend, but these four guys have been really solid at the back

Personally, you have ticked many a box for the National team. What next for you?

I don’t think anything about personal achievements at the moment. It’s all about the team and we need to focus on keeping a clean sheet against UAE.

You have surpassed Messi in the highest scoring active player’s list. Isn’t this particular record a special one for you?

No record for me now. After 10 years, probably, when we’ll sit with a drink in our hand will talk about records. (laughs).

(AIFF Media)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: India registered their biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup win on Sunday as they defeated Thailand 4-1 at the Al Nahyan Stadium in their Group A fixture.

Sunil Chhetri scored a brace to get the Blue Tigers going and second-half goals from Anirudh Thapa and Jeje Lalpekhlua sealed a historic victory for Stephen Constantine’s men.

The Briton was delighted to have overseen a brilliant display by his team, one he believes has allowed football fanatics to discover India’s capability at the continental stage. However, with matches against hosts UAE and Bahrain to come, the coach has his feet firmly on the ground.

“I am delighted with the performance. I thought the boys fought for the entire 93 minutes. I am happy to get our first win in the Asian Cup after so many years,” the India head coach said.

He added, “We try to win every game. We want to compete, be competitive. I think we have done very well in the last two-three years.

It is a process. We are not getting carried away. We won a game but there are two games left. We need another two points at least to have hopes of qualifying. We came here to qualify. It is time we are no longer looking at India in the way we were. I think today, people got a good look at what we are capable of. Stephen Constantine – Coach

FC Pune City winger Ashique Kuruniyan was one of India’s best players on the night. He was deployed in a free role alongside Sunil Chhetri, with Udanta Singh and Halicharan Narzary taking up the flanks but the youngster showed no signs of nerves and worked his socks off to press Thailand into errors. It was Ashique who forced a handball off Theerathon Bunmathan in the 26th minute, allowing Sunil Chhetri slot home his 66th international goal.

“Ashique is very raw, young, strong and fit. He needs to do a lot of things to be the complete player. We wanted a bit of space and a bit of physicality. He is a bit quicker than Jeje and Balwant (Singh) and that was the thought process, to try and stretch and make it difficult for them. And he did not stop running, so fair play to him,” Constantine commented.

The British coach stressed that the hard work put in over the last few years contributed to the win. “I don’t think my team became world class in the last three months. We are working on this since last four years. The result in China was a good result. We are happy with the win but this didn’t happen in the last three months but in the last four years.”

Up next for India are hosts UAE in Group A at Sheikh Zayed Sports City on January 10, 2018. While tougher tests await in the 2019 Asian Cup, India have every reason to celebrate what will be a memorable win.

(ISL Media | Picture: AFC Media)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: India showcased tremendous grit to outclass Thailand 4-1 in their opening match of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 at the Al Nahyan Stadium on Sunday.

The Blue Tigers registered their biggest win in the tournament and also their first in the Asian Cup since 1964.

Sunil Chhetri broke the deadlock with a penalty in the 27th minute before Teerasil Dangda gave Thailand hope with an equaliser. The joy did not last long as Chhetri struck again soon after the break with an excellent first-time strike to restore India’s lead. Anirudh Thapa extended the lead in the 68th minute and Jeje Lalpekhlua scored after coming off the bench to be part of a historic win for India.

Thailand had the upper hand in the opening stages of the match but the Indian defence and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu were alert to their opponents’ clever moments off the ball in the attacking third.

Full-back Tristan Do’s set-piece skills threatened to break the Indian resistance in the 21st minute. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, though, managed to deflect the ensuing shot and Anas Edathodika was at hand to clear the danger.

A quick throw-in by Chhetri from the left flank in the 26th minute caught the Thailand defenders unaware and Ashique Kuruniyan surged into the box with his eye firmly on the goal. Theerathon Bunmathan, in a desperate attempt to halt the FC Pune City winger’s run, handled the ball inside the box and conceded a penalty. Sunil Chhetri stepped up and converted to score his third AFC Asian Cup goal.

Thailand head coach Milovan Rajevac sought a response from this team and the War Elephants hit back in the 33rd minute. Bunmathan made amends for his mistake at the other end with a peach of a free-kick delivery into the box from the right flank. Teerasil Dangda leapt high in the centre of the box and placed his header past Gurpreet.

The Blue Tigers, though, blazed into a 2-1 lead within seconds after the change of ends. Anirudh Thapa nicked the ball off Chanathip Songkrasin on Thailand’s left flank and played the ball forward. Chhetri initiated a well-crafted move, releasing Udanta Singh into space down the right flank. The Bengaluru winger crossed low into the box for Ashique who flicked it on for Chhetri who finished the move with a stunning first-time effort into the top left corner of the net.

India pushed forward and showed plenty of desire to add to their goal tally. They doubled their lead in the 68th minute with a quick break after Teerasil Dangda lost the ball in midfield. Chhetri split the Thai centre-backs with an excellent through-ball to release Udanta into the box. The winger laid the ball off for Anirudh who chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to make it 3-1.

India crushed Thailand’s hopes of a late comeback with a fourth goal in the 80th minute. Chalermpong Kerdkae headed clear Udanta’s cross straight into the feet of Halicharan Narzary who picked out substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua at the edge of the box with a quick pass. The Chennaiyin striker slotted the ball past the goalkeeper to script a historic win for the Blue Tigers in Asia.

(ISL Media | Picture: AFC Media)

The Team

India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK) (C), Pritam Kotal, Anas Edathodika, Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Udanta Singh, Pronay Halder (Germanpreet Singh 87′), Anirudh Thapa (Rowllin Borges 78′), Halicharan Narzary, Ashique Kuruniyan (Jeje Lalpekhlua 78′), Sunil Chhetri

Thailand 1 (Teerasil Dangda 33′) lost to India 4 (Sunil Chhetri 27’ P, 47′, Anirudh Thapa 68′, Jeje Lalpekhlua 80′)