India bows out of AFC cup 2019

This time we had a team which had the hunger to prove itself among other asian nations. Before the start of the championships, we were the least favourites and were thought to be an easy opponent. But, the mood changed right after the match with Thailand. We scored first, later the war elephants equalised, but then there was no looking back as we scored three consecutive goals to seal an emphatic win. Narration about Team India changed thereafter, and we were looked up as a challenging and hardworking side. We had all the neccessary arsenal in our team, for eg. the likes of the trio Sunil Chhetri, Ashique Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh. Sandesh Jhingan and Anas Edathodika at the defence and our own Great Wall of India, the big Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

A win in the second game would have easily landed us in the knockouts, but things were against us that day. The attack which we showcased during that match was phenomenal, but luck and finishing drew us back. Hence, we got defeated. Witnessing that performance, I was completely surprised seeing the improvement in our game. Passes were more accurate, headers were won more frequently etc etc. The team delivered more than everybody's expectation.

Finally, yesterday's game against Bahrain, were we needed just a draw to sail through to the knockouts was heartbreaking. After hanging on for 90 minutes, a small mistake by captain Pronay Halder (who played exceptionally well yesterday) at the penalty box cost us badly. Yesterday, we were very concerned about defending and not about attacking as most of the time ball was in our half. Bahrain played with great vigour and provided very little breathing space for us, with consistent attacks from both the flanks as well from the middle. As usual, Jhingan and Gurpreet were the saviours till the 90 minutes.

This AFC cup proved that our team cannot be seen as an easy outing and with young guns like Anirudh Thapa, Udanta and Ashique, our preparations for 2022 World Cup qualifiers would be in great shape. We can aim for 2022 World cups but, for me it looks like our probability for 2026 world cup would be more, as we have great U-16 teams getting groomed and also the fact that the number of teams participating in 2026 world cups could be up from 32 to 48.

Hoping for the best!!!

Arun
A proud team India fan- A blue pilgrim