Tigers left feeling blue: India lose to UAE 0-2 in AFC Asian Cup 2019

CHENNAI: “Hard luck”, “If only Lady Luck had smiled”. These phrases are often used to describe the Indian cricket team after narrow losses. Definitely not for the country’s football team. 

But how else can you sum up a match where the Blue Tigers got as many as six clear-cut chances to bulge the net. Ultimately, fate seemed to have other ideas as United Arab Emirates beat Stephen Constantine’s boys 2-0 on Thursday.

The knockout stages are still not beyond India’s reach. Next up is Bahrain in the last Group A 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. Bahrain have a solitary point.

Most importantly, India still have a positive goal difference of 1. Apart from the top two teams from each group, the four best-placed third teams also qualify. The hosts, who had given out free tickets to their fans for the match, were under the cosh from the word go. The first opportunity of the night fell to Sandesh Jhingan as early as in the 8th minute. The defender got a free-header off a corner-kick but headed it wide.
Three minutes later, UAE custodian Khalid Bilal pulled off a world class save to break Indian hearts and deny Ashique Kuruniyan’s shot from close range after Sunil Chhetri had put him through.

The next chance fell to skipper Chhetri in the 23rd minute. The diminutive striker 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 3-0 up in less than thirty minutes. With the visitors unable to take their chances, the sucker-punch arrived close to half-time. Against the run of play, 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 in the 40th minute.

In previous years, heads would have dropped, the body language would have changed and the team would have folded up without a fight. But not this lot. The skipper had an immediate chance to answer back after the UAE defence fluffed a routine clearance but Chhetri’s placement went inches past wide of the goal.
It was more of the same in the second-half as chances fell to substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua who tried a volley from the edge of the box but it went narrowly wide.

In the 55th minute, after some fine interplay, the Blue Tigers rattled the crossbar through Udanta Singh’s shot. The hosts then had the last laugh as substitute Ali Mabkhout put it beyond India’s reach. After Sunday’s high, Thursday’s result might dampen spirits of the fans. But for people who have been following the fortune of this team over the years, this display shows we can fight and that we belong to this level.