AFC Asian Cup: Indian football team honours Igor Stimac's words, but difference in ranking prevails

Igor Stimac’s usual sarcastic smile gave way for a stern look as he discussed the Indian football team’s plans for world No. 25 Australia on the eve of their AFC Asian Cup 2023 opener. “I know all our boys will give everything and leave everything on the pitch,” he declared. Just over 24 hours later, his “boys” honoured their coaches’ words almost to the hilt as the 102nd-ranked Blue Tigers suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Socceroos at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Qatar. 2-0 as a scoreline could be deceiving. For Australia, who ran world champions and Lionel Messi close at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the comforts were far from what the scoreline would suggest. The goals came courtesy of individual errors after 50 minutes of spirited fight. 20 kms away from the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium where Stimac and his boys famously held Asian champions Qatar to a 0-0 draw in 2019, India, led by Sunil Chhetri, put in another eye-catching performance. But the difference was parking the bus that night versus playing with intent on Saturday.

On Saturday, despite a 77-spot difference between the ranking of the teams, it was India who created the first chance when in the third minute Lallianzuala Chhangte had Chhetri eyeing the net. India never controlled the ball for long but for the first 15 minutes, they were the team in the mood to make a difference. Australians were passive and Indians aggressive. In the 16th minute came India’s best chance when Chhetri ran through two of the defenders to meet Nikhil Poojary’s looping ball but the header went agonisingly wide. India couldn’t take the lead but Australia couldn’t in the first half either as it ended 0-0. Some of the highlights of India’s play were aspects that are soon becoming the defining characteristics of the team under Stimac who became the coach in 2019 and first struggled for results before turning it around in 2022. High work-rate, pressing, solid defensive shape and clear communication - India relied on these qualities in the first half to stun their opponents who walked back to the dressing room with their shoulders dropped. The last time India played Australia in the Asian Cup, in 2011, it was a 4-0 thrashing. Here Australia looked uninspired and confounded. The man who epitomised India’s fighting spirit the most was Sandesh Jhingan who even took a blow to his head while clearing a corner. There were 12 corners for the Socceroos in the first half but despite having the tallest player in the tournament - Harry Souttar - the result was always a clearance.

The turnaround It was eventually in the second half that higher-ranked Australia managed to break the deadlock and that was also when the usually reliable Gurpreet Singh Sandhu ended up making an error in judgement. Just as Gurpreet deflected a Martin Boyle cross to Jackson Irvine in the 50th minute, the tall midfielder slotted the opening goal behind the stubborn Indian defence. The second goal came in the 73rd minute when Riley McGree skipped past Subhasish Bose on the left to find Jordan Bos who despite being surrounded by Nikhil Poojary and Manvir Singh, only had to deflect the ball into the net. The fight from India in the last quarter, however, wasn’t the best response that you expect. If for 73 minutes, they made Australia work extra to find the goals, it kind of became a game of settling for the score in the last 17 minutes or so.

Tactical shortfalls Despite the praise-worthy performance against Australia, there are clearly a few areas where India can improve. Australia were meant to be the toughest test and with it done, the aim should be to look for positive results against Uzbekistan and Syria. For that, however, India will need to sort out some of the issues. Indian midfielders and wingers gave a good account of themselves in the match but honestly, the passing could be faster. Against the top teams, the timing on the ball will be limited. The decision-making and the passing have to be flashy. Fitness, probably, wasn’t at the best towards the last 20 minutes or maybe the Asian Cup is a test too tough. If India can sort out these issues in the next two games, there’s every chance of them not just catching the attention but rewriting the history.