India vs Bangladesh, Highlights, FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifier: Blue Tigers come away with one point after disappointing draw

India coach Igor Stimac speaks after the match:

We did as we promised. We gave everything we could. Everything was in our hands to be honest. We have a bright future, and we provided the fans with an exciting match. This is India’s future, we’re going to be offensive, we’re going to attack.

We were slow at the back, and the first 45 minutes we were a bit slow. Congratulations to Bangladesh, but we gave away a silly goal. We cannot win matches if we give away goals like this. This was not our day.

We need to score more goals. I knew we would have some problems at the back, with Sandesh Jhingan missing. We need to improve on our defence, but most importantly, we need to work on our attacking movement.

FT IND 1 – 1 BAN

And it’s all over. India got the crowd on their feet with a thrilling late equaliser through Adil Khan, but their defensive ineptitude in the first half essentially meant that it was too little, and definitely too late. Make no mistake, this was a poor performance from the Blue Tigers, and it has greatly hampered their qualification hopes. Bangladesh put in an immense shift against vastly more talented opponents, and this point will mean a lot more to them than it will to India.

90’ IND 1 – 1 BAN

Five minutes of added time! Five minutes that could make all the difference in India’s World Cup qualifying campaign. Five minutes that will flash by in the blink of an eye for India, but will seem like an eternity for this Bangladesh side.

88’ IND 1 – 1 BAN

India have the equaliser and it is Adil Khan who has stepped up and delivered! The defender rises highest on a corner to thump home a header and bring India back on level terms. With a healthy chunk of added time expected, India suddenly look like they can nick a win!

Adil Khan scores the equaliser!

82’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

It just isn’t happening for India. They’ve tried everything, from speculative pot shots to deft passing moves, but this Bangladesh defence has withstood all of it, without ever truly looking to be in serious trouble. With only eight minutes left, India need someone, anyone, to come up with something special.

Just 10 minutes of regular time left

76’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Lallianzuala Chhangte comes on in place of Anas, and it’s quite clearly an attacking change. If nothing else, Chhangte has pace to burn, and that will definitely come in handy against this tired Bangladesh defence.

73’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Bangladesh are really taking the mickey out of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu today. The Indian keeper finds himself stranded on the edge of his penalty area, too far from the safety of his goal line, but also way too far from the Bangladeshi striker, who plops a cheeky chip over him. Luckily, Adil Khan is on hand to make a heroic clearance, and the score remains 1-0.

72’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Sahal Abdul Samad belts one towards goal with an almost startling degree of ferocity. The Bangladesh keeper just about manages to get down low and push it out, but that could have been some goal.

71’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Oh my word, Sunil Chhetri was nearly in there! The Indian skipper rushed on to a long ball, which the Bangladeshi keeper was also racing towards. He wins that footrace with ease, but finds himself too far wide of the goal to shoot. He tries to engineer some space, but his shot is miscued.

68’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Substitution for India as Raynier Fernandes replaces Anirudh Thapa. It was not a great night at the office for young Thapa, who at his worst has looked ineffective, and at his best, has been far away from the ball. India’s urgency has waned to an extent, with their game reverting to a more ponderous pace.

60’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Anas almost gets the equaliser from India’s tenth corner of the match, but like the EDM artist that shares four of the five letters of his name, Biplo is heartless, making a clinical goal-line clearance to deny him. (That was an attempted joke about Diplo’s 2019 single Heartless. In case that wasn’t clear. It was. But in case. You guys definitely got that. But just in case.)

58’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Sunil Chhetri had the entirety of Salt Lake Stadium on tenterhooks as he stood over a set-piece 20-yards out. The shot was a bit anti-climactic though, taking a nick off a Bangladesh head to go out harmlessly for a corner. The corner, perhaps predictably, almost results in a breakaway for Bangladesh, but it’s snuffed out soon enough.

55’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

With a shot/cross reminiscent of Papis Cisse’s physics-defying goal against Chelsea in 2012, Mohammed Ibrahim rattles the crossbar from an acute angle on the left flank. Gurpreet looked genuinely baffled by that shot, letting loose a punch in the general direction of the ball.

50’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Just five minutes into the second half and there’s been a marked improvement in India’s play. Sahal Abdul Samad goes on a slaloming run near the penalty area and manages to pull back a decent ball, but there’s no one on the receiving end. Why exactly have they waited so long to bring out hammer and tongs we might never know, but as they say, better late than never.

46’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

And we’re underway in the second half. India have 45 minutes to undo their mistakes from the first half. They need to go on the offensive quickly, and that’s what they do, winning a corner in the very first minute. It comes to nothing, but it’s a good sign.

HT IND 0 – 1 BAN

India go into halftime trailing, in a match that they need to win at all costs. Their current situation is definitely a problem of their own making, with a string of defensive errors gifting great chances to Bangladesh, who took the best of them through Saad Uddin’s noggin. Igor Stimac’s men have plenty to think about in these fifteen minutes, and they’ll have to be a completely different outfit in the second 45 if they have any chance of keeping their World Cup qualification hopes alive.

41’ IND 0 – 1 BAN

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was the hero when India played Qatar, but he’s undone much of that in a matter of seconds. A lofted ball from a Bangladeshi midfielder looks like a fairly easy claim for the Indian keeper, but he comes out flapping and flailing, and is bowled over by one of his own players. Saad Uddin finds himself with a free header and a gaping goal in front of him, and he obliges, to the sound of deafening silence.

35’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

India are racking up shots on target, but they’re all pretty tame. Sunil Chhetri has been denied space in good positions thanks to the efforts of the two centre backs, who have dragged him this way and that like their own personal rag doll. When he has gotten the ball, it’s usually been in a difficult position, as it was on this occasion, on which he headed the ball towards goal from around 15 yards out.

35’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

India’s really growing into this match now. Manvir Singh gets another shot on target, after climbing highest to meet a lob, but with his back to goal, his options were a bit limited. The Bangladeshi keeper does manage to make a meal out of a fairly simple header though, so maybe it looked like a better opportunity than it was?

31’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Well, Adil Khan wasn’t going to let Rahul Bheke take all the flak for terrible defending. The Indian centre back absolutely bungles a simple clearance, gifting Bangladesh a very handy 2v1 situation. The right-winger is unable to convert the chance however, thanks to a very good but completely intentional block from his own striker, who was trying to guide it past Gurpreet with a deft touch. The ball grazes the net on the way out, and Adil breathes an audible sigh of relief.

24’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Manvir Singh is clattered into from behind, and India are awarded a free-kick from around 25 yards out. It’s quite central, and Sunil Chhetri is standing over it. Well, he isn’t anymore. It’s Samad now, who plays a cheeky ball into Udanta, who then tries to slip it through to Chhetri. Chhetri was being yanked back, but the referee sees nothing wrong with it.

21’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Ashique has been India’s best player so far, dancing his way through throngs of lime green shirts on the left flank. There’s only so much the man can do on his own, however, and he’s not receiving much support at the moment. It’s been a sloppy affair so far, with neither team impressing much as a unit. I won’t lie, we might have oversold it a bit when we said this match would be a ’thriller.'

17’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Well, just as I’ve typed that, Rahul Bheke and Udanta put together a neat little one-two on the other side of the pitch to win a corner. The resultant corner is beautifully arcing ball that finds Bheke completely unmarked. He completely fluffs his opportunity to secure redemption however, blasting his header to kingdom come.

14’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

The combination of Ashique Kuruniyan and Mandar Rao Dessai on the left flank currently looks like India’s best avenue into the opposing penalty area. The pair have been playing off each other’s strengths excellently.

10’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Well, Rahul Bheke would have certainly wanted to be heavily involved in this match, but not quite in the way he has been so far. He’s almost given away two penalties, and has now missed an excellent opportunity at the other end.

8’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Is Rahul Bheke mates with the ref? After nearly giving away a penalty in the first 20 seconds of the match, the right-back commits to yet another questionable tackle in the box. He’s toeing the line at the moment, and if he continues this way, it could be a problem for India.

6’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

We’re just minutes into this match, but Bangladesh have already proved that they are no pushovers. While it would be a little bit of an exaggeration to say that they have been dominating, they have caused a few problems.

4’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Sunil Chhetri gets India’s first shot on target. The Indians opt for some Route 1 football, with a speculative lob up the field, which is headed down by Manvir Singh. One pass later, and Chhetri finds himself in a pocket of space thanks to a smart turn, but his resultant volley is hit straight at the keeper.

1’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Rahul Bheke is a lucky, lucky boy. Bangladesh surge forward and make it all the way to India’s penalty area, where Bheke bundles over a player and puts it out of play for a corner. The slow-mo replay shows he got none of the ball, and took a big chunk out of the Bangladeshi player’s shin, so thank god there’s no VAR tonight, eh?

1’ IND 0 – 0 BAN

Bangladesh get the ball rolling! Hold on to your seats folks, this one promises to be a thriller! With both teams looking for their first wins of the campaign, you can expect them to go for it from the get go.

The Indian team is all warmed up and ready to go

A few touches and sprints 🏃‍♂️before the showdown 👊🏽#INDBAN ⚔️ #WCQ 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽️ #BlueTigers 🐯 pic.twitter.com/YA4zAcmmvE

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) October 15, 2019

Here’s what Bangladesh coach Jamie Day had to say before the match:

We’re really looking forward to the game. We played well against Qatar, and we want to take our confidence from that game into this one, but it’s difficult of course.

Sunil Chhetri will be the biggest threat obviously, but this crowd is just as dangerous. We need to make sure we silence them quickly, because sometimes an intimidating atmosphere like that can really get to you.

India will be missing a vital cog in their defence when they face Bangladesh

Defender Sandesh Jhingan was on Thursday ruled out of India’s Group E FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh. Click here to read more about his injury, and what it could mean for India,

Just under half an hour to go!

FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers: India seeking victory over Bangladesh which allows them to ‘keep dreaming’

India began life under new coach Igor Stimac by shipping in 13 goals and only winning once in the Croat’s first five matches. So it would have been logical to expect India’s qualifying campaign to end after their first two matches against Oman and Qatar itself. Football, however, is hardly logical. Which is why India come into the third match of their qualifying campaign with their confidence sky-high and their hopes still alive.

Click here to read more of Dilip Unnikrishnan’s preview of the match.

🤩🤩🤩#INDBAN ⚔️ #WCQ 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽️ #BlueTigers 🐯 pic.twitter.com/Darp9w8YdJ

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) October 15, 2019

Here’s how both teams will line-up!