World Cup Qualifiers: India surprise and confound Iran but still lose 3-0

Bengaluru: Bengaluru: There were two moments which defined India’s 3-0 loss against Iran in the World Cup Qualifier played in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening. The first, when forward Robin Singh streaked back from the attacking third, chased down Iran’s right winger Ashkan Dejagah and slid in to win a ball before the former Fulham player could cross it in.

The second was when Pritam Kotal received the ball from goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh under no pressure, turned around and passed it straight to Saeid Ezatolahi, whose finesse shot went curling past the far post.

India chased, ran, fought, tackled and pressed hard – the spirit was indomitable in the first 45 minutes. But that was not enough to beat Asia’s top ranked team. That spirit was broken prematurely when they conceded two goals in the space of five minutes in the second half. Football wise – India were comprehensively beaten.

Sardar Azmoun opened the scoring with a glancing header in the 29th minute – a soft goal conceded from an equally soft freekick given away on the wide left. India were still in it at the break, spurred on by the winning every duel when they did not have the ball – but Iran skipper Andranik Teymourian (47th minute) and Mehdi Taromi (51st minute) scored in quick succession to kill off any hopes for the home team.

“We were surprised and confused with the way India started. We didn’t expect them to play with so much determination and they caused some problems in the middle of the park. When we saw the starting lineup and three forwards, we felt the pressure,” Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said after the match.

But that’s as far as India went in terms of troubling Iran. Their closest attempt was an ambitious bicycle kick from the otherwise disappointing Eugeneson Lyngdoh – an attempt in the 33rd minute which was blocked. Sunil Chhetri and Pronay Halder both went close from distance, but by then, the match had already been lost courtesy Teymourian’s stinging drive from a headed layoff near the edge of the box. Four minutes later, Taromi ended an intricate move inside the box. That was game over for India, who were then left chasing shadows for more almost 40 minutes.

“Iran scored when they were not supposed to score,” India coach Stephen Constantine said after the match. “Conceding so soon after half time killed us,” he added.

Quieroz though, was pleased that his team scored at just the right time. “The two goals [just after half time> made India realise they couldn’t beat India.”

If Iran were expecting an easy physical battle, then India gave them a run for their money. Robin Singh and Sandesh Jhingan in particular were impressive – the latter producing a stellar performance at centre-back, his anticipation, aerial prowess and timing of challenge proving why he is so highly rated.

When he dived forward with his head just when Sardar was about to pull the trigger exemplified the team’s bravery in defence. But the gates had to eventually break – such is the talent in the Iranian side that they took advantage of a few mistakes and made India pay.

“It comes down to experience and we lost focus and concentration at crucial moments and conceded. But we did well to get back into the game. They didn’t end up scoring six or seven. But we paid the price for the mistakes and we will learn from this. We gave everything we had today but it was not enough. However, I cannot fault the players for today’s performance,” Constantine said.

In essence, India’s plan was simple – stiffle midfield, win the ball and quickly release it to the wings for Robin Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Chhetri. Despite not creating too many chances, the three won a lot of long balls, only to find themselves not supported by the midfield. It’s not a tactic that Constantine wants to deploy, but as he said, “it is hard to want to keep the ball and actually do it against a top team.”

“You have to remember who we were playing against,” he said.

India suffered from an early injury to Dhanpal Ganesh but debutant Gurpreet Singh was authoritative, commanding and quick to come off his line when needed. He was especially effective against Sardar, sweeping the ball off the tall forward’s feet as many as three times in one on one situations.

Despite the positives, India continue to stay bottom of Group D in the qualifying table. They have now lost against Oman and Iran at home and to Guam away. Their next fixture is in March when they welcome Guam and are still in contention for an automatic Asian Cup berth.

“We cannot go back to playing the way we used to. We have to play like this and get a result in all the remaining matches. It doesn’t matter who we play,” Constantine said, looking ahead at the rest of the campaign.