Indian Football Team 2019 Asia Cup Campaign

Needing just a draw to advance to knockout against Bahrain, India lost in last moments

Writer : Manav Chowdhury

India started their Asia cup campaign with a morale boosting 4-1 win over Thailand in their opening game . Sunil Chhetri had scored a brace while Thapa & Jeje chipped in with one goal each.This was the first win in 55 years in competition history but this happy moment didn’t last long.

The Blue Tigers lost consecutive two matches against the hosts (UAE) and Bahrain,that saw the side exit the tournament at the group stage . This was followed by the resignation of the coach Stephen Constantine.

Up against UAE the host of the tournament India couldnt do much and conceded one goal in each half to lose 0-2.

Against Bahrain the team just needed one point to advance into the knockout stage but unfortunately Pronoy Halder tackled. India conceded a penalty in the last moment of the game which was scored by Jamal Rashid. This shattered the dreams of millions of fans and the dream of players was completely broken.

2011 Asia Cup India lost all matches

Even though the 2011 Asia cup for the Blue Tigers was not good either as they were grouped with the mighty South Korea ,Australia and Bahrain ,and they lost all three matches as they were eliminated from the group stage

Even though the exit from the Asia Cup from 2019 was very tough one to take ,as the team were very close to create history ,but at last everyone even the AFC praised The Blue tigers for their performance. They were not at all the favourites to qualify for the knockout stages but still managed to make the country proud
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The boys played with a lot of courage and and their mentality during the Asia cup qualifiers was also really strong as they played out a draw against the mighty china.

Coach Stephen Constantine choose a very young squad for the Asia Cup ,which was questioned by a lot of fans and mediahouses but the gaffer believed in the boys and the boys delivered in the tournament as well.

As we are on our way to the Qualifiers for the 2023 Asia Cup the Blue tigers will be eager to improve their standards under Igor Stimac as they will be facing lower ranked teams Cambodia, Hong Kong & Afghanistan