Gurpreet Singh Sandhu Exclusive: 'We could have won against Iraq, Indian team much better than what people think'

India were inches away from their first victory over Iraq when an 80th minute controversial penalty goal allowed the world No 70 side to equalise and take the game to the penalties, where they won 5-4 in the opening game of the 49th King’s Cup Thursday. With a 29-spot difference in the FIFA ranking and a history of five defeats and one draw in the last six games, the odds were heavily stacked against the Blue Tigers, but Igor Stimac and Co once again showed that they are no pushovers, even against one of the best sides in Asia. King’s Cup 2023: A loss that feels almost like a win for India against Iraq India’s captain on the night, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, was disappointed the Blue Tigers did not clinch a victory against the Lions of Mesopotamia but he felt his team needs to move on quickly as they have one more match coming up in the tournament. “To be honest, we could have won the game,” Gurpreet told Firstpost in the mixed zone after the match. “Unfortunately, the second penalty which was a bit questionable was given away, by the ref, but again we did much much better than what I think people would have thought that we would. “We just need to believe in a sense more when we have a goal, be a bit more patient, be a bit more positive which we were and it’s just building on this because we have another game coming up. Let go of this. Of course, we would have loved to win but we have another game coming up in two days so we need to make sure that we as a team rest well and we are ready for that.” In fact, Sunil Chhetri-less India were the only side to score from open play in the match and took the lead twice. Naorem Mahesh Singh opened the scoring in the 16th minute, capitalising on a stellar through ball from Sahal Abdul Samad. Ali Al-Hamadi then equalised for Iraq in the 28th minute, from the spot, after a Sandesh Jhingan handball. India took the lead for the second time in the 51st minute after an Aakash Mishra shot was deflected into the goal by Iraq goalie and captain Jalal Hasan. Despite consistent pressure, the Indian defenders did well to keep the danger at bay before a second penalty was awarded to Iraq in the 79th minute after Aymen Ghadhban was brought down in the box.

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While there were doubts over the penalty, Ghadhban converted his spot kick to take the match into the penalties where Iraq came out on top. Despite the narrow defeat, it was a performance to remember as India gave a massive scare to Arabian Gulf Cup champions who defeated heavyweights like Qatar and Saudi Arabia on their way to the trophy win in January this year. Skipper Gurpreet was super proud of the performance and added that while others may be surprised with India’s performance, the World no 99 team is much “better than what people think”. “I have said this before as well. This bunch, this team, most of the boys, we have played together for a while and most of the boys are maturing at the right age, peaking at the right time and it helps. I am saying this again that we are much better than what people think we are. We just need to believe in ourselves. I just need to believe in myself. Mishra needs to believe in himself. Sandesh needs to believe that. We are working day in and day out to make sure that we as a team keep pushing our limits and break the barriers and move forward in Asia because that is where we want to be,” the Bengaluru FC goalkeeper pointed out.

.@GurpreetGK takes out time to meet the Indian fans who were in the stadium to support the Blue Tigers.

First thing he says is "sorry". pic.twitter.com/FD121mHjeJ

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Iraq game was also seen as a dress rehearsal for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 where India are scheduled to play some of the best Asian sides. In the group stage, India will be up against Australia (World No 38), Uzbekistan (74) and Syria (94). Reflecting on the biggest learning from the match, Gurpreet said that in pressure games against higher-ranked sides, India need to make sure that they don’t give away opportunities. “Sky is limit for us. We just need to be humble and make sure that as a team we don’t give away chances the way we did. Unfortunately, Iraq got chances to come back and win the game. We just need to make sure that if we want to be one of those big teams, we don’t give away opportunities even though it looks like it’s something that is out of your control. We just need to make sure we don’t give any chance whatsoever to other teams if we want to be among the top teams,” he signed off. India will now face Lebanon in the third-place match on 10 September.