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Preview: Low-in-confidence India will aim for their first win of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers when they host Guam in a return leg match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Thursday. India dropped five places to be 172nd in the latest FIFA rankings, and are at the bottom of Group D in the World Cup qualifiers and have slim chances of qualifying for the Asian Cup by finishing third. India have lost all their five matches played so far in Group D headed by Oman. Guam are in the fourth place. [caption id=“attachment_2504370” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
India have lost all their five matches played so far in Group D headed by Oman. Guam are in the fourth place. AIFF[/caption] Guam, 155th in the rankings, have beaten India 2-1 in June in the first leg match and will play their away match with full confidence. The home side’s hopes of progressing to the second round of the qualifiers are already over and if they don’t take the home advantage, they might not even qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup. With both the sides training for the match amidst heavy rain here, India coach Stephen Constantine has already announced Guam as favourites for the match. Guam arrived here a couple of days earlier than India assembled to acclimatise to the conditions. “Guam have seven points. They are above us in the FIFA Rankings. So they are the favourites. But at the end of the day, it’s what you do on the pitch which determines the result,” Constantine said on Wednesday. “In any case, we didn’t play particularly well, which has been the case in all of our away games so far. Four games later, we are a better side than we were then. I have respect for Guam and their coach as they do. But we need the points to give ourselves the chance of making the playoffs," he said. India have so far played two matches at the Kanteerava stadium. The first against Oman which they lost 1-2. The second losing 0-3 to Iran. “When I came here in 2015, I was under no illusion as to the difficulties and challenges that lay ahead. We had not qualified for the World Cup Qualifiers in eight years,” Constantine said. “I believe that this group of players that we have and the others that will follow will make us into a competitive team in the months and years to come,” the coach said. IANS
India vs Guam World Cup Qualifier as it happened: Ten-man India hold against resurgent Guam to win 1-0
Pulasta Dhar
• November 12, 2015, 21:30:17 IST
India have lost all their five matches played so far in Group D headed by Oman. Guam are in the fourth place.
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November 12, 2015, 21:17:21 (IST)
FULL TIME: Robin Singh’s solitary goal hands a brilliant win for India. In a test of resilience, the home team held on to a resurgent Guam, even after going a man down. Gurpreet was solid all night between the posts as Guam stepped up atatck in the second half. It’s a victory for the men in blue. That’s all for tonight, thank you for joining us.
November 12, 2015, 21:11:12 (IST)
FULL TIME! India registers its first victory in World Cup qualifiers, holds on 1-0 against a resurgent Guam.
November 12, 2015, 21:09:54 (IST)
Substitution: A change for India in the dying moments of the game. Augustine comes in for Cavin Lobo.
November 12, 2015, 21:09:00 (IST)
90 minutes: Three minutes added time for India to hold on to their lead.
November 12, 2015, 21:08:08 (IST)
89 minutes: Gurpreet saves again, prevents Guam from equalising. He has had a brilliant game and kept India’s lead intact.
November 12, 2015, 21:03:55 (IST)
85 minutes: Chhetri makes a solo, mazey run along the left flank, cuts in and belts a curler towards the Guam goal. The ball whips past the far post! That was as close as India has been to doubling their lead. Score remains 1-0 in favour of the home team.
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November 12, 2015, 20:58:02 (IST)
76 minutes: Goal disallowed for Guam! Guy finds the back of the net from a Guam corner but linesman rules that corner curled behind the goal line. India still leads 1-0
November 12, 2015, 20:51:21 (IST)
73 minutes: Gurpreet has been busy in the second half. He tips over a bad defensive header.
November 12, 2015, 20:45:08 (IST)
67 minutes: Period of short and crisp passing for Guam around the Indian goalmouth leads to a cross. The headed effort goes straight into Gurpreet’s safe hands.
November 12, 2015, 20:40:37 (IST)
Substitution: India goes for fresh legs. Jeje Lalpekhlua comes in for Robin Singh
November 12, 2015, 20:35:52 (IST)
56 minutes: Gurpreet dives to his left and collects a deflected shot. Guam has started the second half confidently as India’s resolve is tested.
November 12, 2015, 20:32:38 (IST)
56 minutes: Mandal defends brilliantly by sliding in the way of a shot from close range in the box
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November 12, 2015, 20:30:18 (IST)
51 minutes: Gurpreet safely collects a headed effort from a Guam corner. India still leads 1-0
November 12, 2015, 20:24:44 (IST)
Substitution: Substitution for team India. Harmanjot Khabra comes in for Romeo Fernandes.
November 12, 2015, 20:22:39 (IST)
Second half begins: Second half action kicks off. Will India hold on to their lead?
November 12, 2015, 20:07:17 (IST)
HALF-TIME: India go in ahead at the break, thanks to a wonder strike from Robin Singh… but they end the half on a sour note with Sehnaj Singh sent off. That means Constantine will have to curb his team from pouring forward like they have. As it stands, India are in line to earn their first points of this qualifying campaign.
November 12, 2015, 20:02:56 (IST)
RED CARD! 43 minutes: Sehnaj Singh goes studs up on Justin and the referee waits for a couple of seconds before flashing red. India down to 10 men, and that was the right decision — terrible challenge and Justin lucky to come off unscathed.
November 12, 2015, 19:59:04 (IST)
40 minutes: Robin Singh is released on another break, but he fails to control the ball and Guam get away with it. India’s defenders have been quite brilliant so far, closing the spaces between the lines and allowing no room for the visitors to exploit. Guam’s greatest threat has been from set-pieces but Gurpreet looks assured in goal.
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November 12, 2015, 19:51:21 (IST)
32 minutes: Kotal and Das, both the wingbacks, make last ditch tackles to stop Guam from putting in a dangerous ball into the box. While Kotal’s is waved on, Das gets whistled — but Guam’s freekick from a tight angle comes to nothing. India break quickly, but can’t keep their head as they rush forward and Guam have stopped the counter.
November 12, 2015, 19:44:47 (IST)
25 minutes: Chhetri takes on a couple of players and fires a low left footer which is deflected for a corner. The take from Lyngdoh is aimed at Jhingan, but he can’t get his head on it. Trickles away for a goalkick.
November 12, 2015, 19:40:28 (IST)
20 minutes: India on the attack again and this time right back Pritam Kotal finds space to cross, which is brilliantly cleared but makes its way to Chhetri. The skipper lays it off for Lyngdoh but the shot is high, wide and not so handsome. Moments earlier, Lopez had the ball in the net but the goal was ruled out for offside.
November 12, 2015, 19:36:39 (IST)
November 12, 2015, 19:36:09 (IST)
17 minutes: Romeo Fernandes looks a bit nervous on his debut — he is the 500th player to play for the Indian senior national team, and the side will be hoping that he grows into the game. His blistering pace should be a threat down the wings, but this game is being played primarily through the middle. Quite narrow.
November 12, 2015, 19:30:56 (IST)
GOAL!!!! 11 minutes: Robin Singh collects the ball on the left channel, executes a lovely turn to beat his marker and curls an unstoppable strike in and off the woodwork. Boy, what a strike! 1-0 to India.
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November 12, 2015, 19:28:41 (IST)
9 minutes: Excellent footwork and close control from Lyngdoh at the edge of the box as India stitch up a few good passes, but the home team can’t make much of the move. Guam look disciplined in defence and are happy to sit back and be patient with their attacks.
November 12, 2015, 19:23:18 (IST)
4 minutes: Guam attack from the off and win a corner in the first minute attempting a low cross — which is cleared away. They pump in two more floated crosses but India’s defence is alert.
November 12, 2015, 19:19:29 (IST)
KICK-OFF!
November 12, 2015, 19:17:31 (IST)
“The road is long but the belief is everything. Stand up for Indian football,” a 5400 sq ft. banner says at the Kanteerava stadium in Bengaluru.
November 12, 2015, 19:09:53 (IST)
November 12, 2015, 19:07:51 (IST)
India’s lineup looks like a 4-4-1-1, with Chhetri playing at No 10 and Robin Singh alone on top. Lobo and Romeo will take the wings.
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November 12, 2015, 18:23:32 (IST)
November 12, 2015, 18:10:54 (IST)
November 12, 2015, 18:08:11 (IST)
STARTING XI: Gurpreet (GK); Pritam, Sandesh, Arnab, Narayan; Romeo, Sehnaj, Eugeneson; Chhetri (C), Cavin, Robin
November 12, 2015, 17:59:24 (IST)
India are not alone in the winless category in the Asian leg of the World Cup 2018 qualifiers (which has 40 teams). Bhutan, Chinese Taipei, Cambodia and Yemen have also failed to register a single point.
November 12, 2015, 17:56:52 (IST)
The last time the two teams met, Guam beat India 2-1 courtesy goals from Brandon McDonald and Travis Nicklaw. Sunil Chhetri got a goal for India, but it was too late by then.
November 12, 2015, 17:45:18 (IST)
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November 12, 2015, 17:44:16 (IST)
If India remain last, they will need to go through a Asian Cup qualifying play-off round. The fourth placed team makes Asian Cup qualifying third round OR play-off round. However, India need to win their remaining games to have any chance of getting a better draw for the Asia Cup which is in 2019.
November 12, 2015, 17:44:11 (IST)
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Cup 2018 qualifier between India and Guam. Also at stake is a berth in the Asia Cup.
Written by Pulasta Dhar
If there is one place Pulasta Dhar wanted to live, it would be next to the microphone. He writes about, plays and breathes football. With stints at BBC, Hallam FM, iSport, Radio Mirchi, The Post and having seen the World Cup in South Africa, the Manchester United fan and coffee addict is a Mass Media graduate and has completed his MA in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Sheffield."
End of Liveblog