INDIAN FOOTBALL

3 Takeaways from India’s narrow defeat against Qatar

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India lost their World Cup qualifier match against Qatar only by a narrow margin of 0-1. Qatar is the best in Asia tried their best to score the 2nd goal but failed in doing so.

Qatar still remains the league toppers with 19 points in 7 matches, and India on the 4th spot with 3 points in 6 matches. Despite playing with 10 men due to Rahul Bheke’s early red card. India were organized and gave a powerful defensive performance. Thanks to the heroics of Sandesh Jhingan and Gurpreet Singh, both gave exceptional performances.

Qatar’s head coach Sanchez said “I am happy that we got the victory tonight because the three points were important to us. To remain on the top of the group and qualify for AFC Cup”. he further added, ” We could have scored more goals but we faced a strong defensive side. It was difficult for us, as India have good players who fought very well”.

The three things India could learn from narrow loss to Qatar

Building from the back: In every match, whenever India plays the main problem is the way they build. Gurpreet being an exceptional goalkeeper, but not quick enough on the feet to make short passes with the Center-backs while being pressed by the opposition. India needs to learn that so that instead of lofting the ball to strikers and losing it most of the time. They can just keep the ball the ball and control the game.

Holding Possession: This is another major problem that India has while they face any good team. The Blues always lose possession and chase after the ball for most of the time. And if managed to retain the ball. They lose within seconds. And again the cycle of chasing and pressing begins.

Keeping the composure: As we all witnessed during the match, the lack of composure by the Indian team. The blues miss out on so many chances because of this. Whenever the team transitions from defense to attack, lack of composure ruins everything. Releasing the ball too early and releasing it without precision have been some of the main reasons behind India’s lack of goals. Building counters quickly and calmly can lead to better chances or goals.

Hope The Blues will surely work on the things which they are lacking and perform better in the next match. India will face Bangladesh on Monday, India also needs to win it. If they want to secure their place in the 3rd round of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

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