The Indian National Football Team suffered a 6-0 defeat against UAE at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai on 29th March evening. UAE fixture was India’ second international friendly this year after the encounter with Oman which had ended in a 1-1 draw.
India currently ranks 104th and started the game as the underdogs against 74th ranked UAE. The last time the two teams faced each other was in the 2019 Asian Cup group stage where UAE won 2-0.
UAE demolished the Indian Nation team 6 goals to nil on 29th March’s fixture. In total, India and UAE faced each other 15 times, out of which India won 2, drew 2 and the rest were won by UAE.
INDIA 0-6 UAE TEAM NEWS:
India full squad: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Subhashish Roy Chowdhury, Dheeraj Singh, Ashutosh Mehta, Akash Mishra, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Chinglensana Singh, Adil Khan, Mandar Rao Dessai, Mashoor Shereef, Rowllin Borges, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Raynier Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Bipin Singh, Yasir Mohammad, Suresh Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Ashique Kuruniyan, Manvir Singh, Ishan Pandita, Hitesh Sharma, Liston Colaco.
India’s talisman Sunil Chhetri was missing as he had tested positive for COVID-19.
UAE full squad: Ali Khaseif, Khalid Eisa, Adel Al Hosani, Mohammad Al Shamsi, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdul Rahman, Waleed Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Al Hassan Saleh, Salim Rashid, Mohammad Al Attas, Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Yahya Nader, Abdullah Ramadan, Majed Hassan, Fabio de Lima, Khalfan Mubarak, Caio Canedo, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Ali Saleh, Suhail Al Noubi, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue and Zayed Al Ameri.
INDIA 0-6 UAE ANALYSIS:
Ali Mabkhout hit the back of the net in the 12th minute and scored from the penalty spot just 20 minutes after that. UAE had taken a comfortable 2-0 lead in the first half. India failed to create chances and be effective in the final third. It has been a struggle for India right from the kick-off.
15 minutes into the second half and Ali Mabkhout got his hat-trick. The Indian defence has been shaky through the match and trailing 3-0 seemed to rattle the Blue Tigers’ confidence too. Khalil Al Hammadi made it 4-0 for UAE in the 64th minute. Breaking through the Indian defence is now a piece of cake for the UAE forwards.
Another moment of chaotic defending in the 72nd minute made it 5-0 and de Lima also added his name to the list of scorers for UAE. Six minutes until the final whistle and Tagliabue embarrassed India with another goal for UAE.
Composure, quick decision making, defensive solidity, and midfield creativity were pretty much missing from the Blue Tigers. India’s head coach, Igor Stimac has plenty of thinking to do after his team’s embarrassing performance. UAE thrashed India and this defeat will stay in the minds of the players and the fans for quite some time now.
