Preview: India will come out all guns blazing with an eye on the coveted AFC Asian Cup finals berth when they take on Macau in a qualifying round encounter on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_4132797” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File image of Sunil Chhetri. AIFF[/caption] A win against Macau will ensure a place in the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, having last played the continental championship in 2011. The ‘Blue Tigers’ are sitting pretty with nine points after they won all their three group games, beating Myanmar 1 -0, Kyrgyz Republic 1-0 and Macau 2-0. They are yet to concede a goal in the qualifiers. A win on Wednesday will also give coach Stephen Constantine an opportunity to play younger players in next two inconsequential games to expand players’ pool for the team. Knowing the significance of the match, the Indian boys know the type of football Macau play, but want to deal them with the respect they deserve. Constantine would like his boys to play quick passes leaving opponents not much time to settle down, which they did in their last away game against Macau. “We need to open them up. I think we were a bit static in the first half of our away game in Macau and it helped them. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistake,” Constantine said. Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Holicharan Narzary and Udanta Singh, will be itching to get behind Macau defenders, who didn’t allow them any scoring opportunities in their last game. Full-backs Narayan Das and Pritam Kotal would like to pepper the visitors box with crosses, which would cause plenty of problems for Macau defence. Robin Singh and Jackichand Singh will be expecting Constantine gives them a chance as they were on the bench in their previous match. It will be interesting to see if Constantine plays in- form striker Balwant Singh instead of Eugeneson Lyngdoh. Lyngdoh has played for Bengaluru FC. India would be aiming for an early goal to more pressure and also prevent them from hitting on the counter. “We need to be patient which we were not in the first half when we played away against Macau,” Constantine said. Macau haven’t won a match since AFC Solidarity Cup last year and have lost their last four games without scoring a single goal. The visitors started their campaign on slightly positive note as they lost narrowly 1-0 to Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek. They were routed by Myanmar 4-0 in their away game. Captain Paulo Cheang Leong, the most-capped player for Macau, will look to pull the strings in midfield, alongside Edgar Teixeira. Ranked 182nd in the world, Macau would like to take a cue from their last match against the 107th ranked India and make it tough for the home team to breach their defence.
Highlights, India vs Macau Football Match result, AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers in Bengaluru: Hosts seal championship berth
Catch live score and updates from the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers match between India and Macau.
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So that’s it from us today. Hope you have enjoyed our coverage of the match. Do join us for the FIFA U-17 World Cup match between India and Ghana tomorrow. We will be there with all the updates from that match.
See you, good night!
The future looks bright!
Never give up!
“It’s a great feeling”
Captain, leader, legend!
Sunil Chhetri
It’s a great feeling to qualify for the Asian Cup.Very happy with the way boys performed. In the second-half, we spoke about bouncing back. It felt so bad when we missed the qualification last time around. You don’t get to play the best teams in Asia quite often so it’s a great chance now. We are India, we will put our head down and work even harder.
A fourth appearance at the Asian Championships.
FT: IND 4-1 MAC
Thumping performance from India as they qualify to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
90’ IND 4-1 MAC
GOAALL! Sunil Chhetri with the assist and Jeje finds the net. It’s done!
India’s second goal!
86’ IND 3-1 MAC
Once again, Balwant Singh has been very impressive. His theatneing runs were instrumental in breaking Macau’s sturdy defence. Stephen Constantine will like to believe that he has an asset in the team in the name of Balwant Singh. There’s still plenty of time for the Asian Cup but Balwant will hope to maintain his form and become an integral part of the team in future.
It’s not Macau’s day!
70’ IND 3-1 MAC
It was a brilliant through ball from Jeje that made Balwant run towards the goal and pass it to Chhetri to score the second goal. Jeje was having an ordinary game up until that time but he’s a quality player and there’s a reason why Stephen Constantine prefers him. Later in the 70th minutes, Macau fell behind for the third time in the match thanks to a terrible own goal.
60’ IND 2-1 MAC
GOOOAAAALLLLL! It’s captain, leader, legend Sunil Chhetri who taps in from a Balwant Singh’s pass and India takes the lead in the match. Super sub Balwant does the trick once again as his ferocious pace comes in handy and Chhetri was there in the middle to net the ball. As it looks now, India are on their way to 2019 AFC Asian Cu.
58’ IND 1-1 MAC
India almost took the lead with Sandesh Jhingan’s header from a corner but Macau’s goalkeeper pulls off a terrific save. India need to create more chances. Btw, where’s skipper Sunil Chhetri? Not one of his best games. yet.
52’ IND 1-1 MAC
Macau are playing with renewed confidence after Nicholas Tarrao’s equaliser. They are not afraid of pressing. India, meanwhile, are on the backfoot. Macau’s goal came from nowhere and it looks like India are still coming into terms with that.
45’ IND 1-1 MAC
Second-half is underway at Sree Kanteerava Stadium. India make one change. Balwant Singh replaces Jackichand Singh.
That’s the first goal!
HT: IND 1-1 MAC
Rowllin Borges gave India the lead in the 28th minute but Nicholas Tarrao levelled it for Macau just before the half-time. Borges got the goal as a result of a big deflection from Macau defender but a lapse of concentration from goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu proved to be costly for India. He was caught ball watching a cross from the right flank as Tarrao got into a perfect position in the box to score a header.
HT: IND 1-1 MAC
Rowllin Borges gave India the lead but Nicholas Tarrao levelled it for Macau just before the half-time.
The record is gone!
37’ IND 1-1 MAC
GOAL! Macau scores an equaliser. A brilliant header from Nicholas Tarrao. Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was at fault their as he was busy ball watching. An error which India could’ve avoided but Macau are level now. This is the first goal India concede in the qualifiers.
28’ IND 1-0 MAC
GOOOALLL! Rowllin Borges scores! It took a big deflection from Macau’s defender but the credit should go to Borges for creating the chance. He pressed hard and was at the right spot in the box to take the shot. Bit unlucky for Macau.
22’ IND 0-0 MAC
Skipper Sunil Chhetri gets a free-kick in a dangerous position but his shot is well above the post. There are also encouraging signs from Macau as they trying to attack more.
The support system of India.
Agree!
14’ IND 0-0 MAC
Well, the rain is making it difficult in the middle.So far, so scrappy. There’s no doubt that India will enjoy a lion’s share of possession but they need to create chances early on and put pressure on Macau. Make them to commit errors.
6’ IND 0-0 MAC
It’s raining quite heavily in Bengaluru. As expected, Macau are pretty much parking the bus. Sandesh Jhingan got a good chance to put India ahead but it was a terrible shot.
Alright then.
It’s kick-off at Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Udanta will likely to feature in the second-half.
“We need to be patient which we were not in the first half when we played away against Macau.”
India coach Stephen Constantine urges team to remain patient today.
Macau will park the bus!
CK Vineeth wants to make today memorable.
India’s wall
One Nation. One Dream.
http://www.firstpost.comIndia’s head coach Stephen Constantine is looking dapper today.