India went down 1-2 to Jordan in an international football friendly here on Saturday, an improved second-half performance failing to salvage a draw for the visitors.
This was a climbdown for Stephen Constantine’s men weeks after holding World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi’s higher-ranked China to a goalless stalemate.
The 97th-ranked India, though, was without talismanic striker Sunil Chhetri, who was ruled out of the game due to an injury.
Goalkeeper and captain Amer Shafi put Jordan ahead in the 25th minute thanks to a howler from India custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who failed to read the counterpart’s shot from the other end of the pitch. Gurpreet had earlier saved a penalty in the 10th minute.
Ehsan Haddad consolidated Jordan’s position, making it 2-0 in the 58th minute.
Coming on as a substitute for Jackiechand Singh, debutant Nishu Kumar pulled one back for the visitors when he scored from close range in the 61st minute. But Jordan held on to win 2-1.
The result: Jordan 2 (Shafi 25, Haddad 58) bt India 1 (Nishu 61).