IND vs AFG : The Indian National Football team settled with a goalless draw (0-0) against a second string Afghanistan team.
On 22nd March, 2024 Sunil Chetri and his boys put off a disappointing performance in the recent ongoing FIFA World Cup qualifiers by being unable to win against a lower ranked Afghanistan (158-FIFA Rank) side.
Igor Stimac (Indian National team Coach) starts with an interesting 4-4-2 formation with Sunil Chetri and Vikram Pratap Singh at striker position.
Both teams had quite a few scoring chances in the whole match but both were unable to land a goal in the goalpost which resulted in a goalless draw.
Referees had a busy day on the field with a combined 4 yellow cards given to players. Out of which sadly India conceded 3 Yellow cards and only 1 Afghanistan player booked by the referee.
Igor Stimac tried most of his bench players in this match with a total 5 substitutions in an effort to edge past against a sturdy opponent but unfortunately that couldn’t happen .
If we have to summarise today’s game against Afghanistan, India really played very bad with a sloppy defence, clueless midfield and very poor finishing by strikers.
Although one good thing happened , Qatar defeated Kuwait with a 3-0 massive victory which helped India to climb one spot on the points table and sit at 2nd position with 4 points and three more games to play .
With 3 more games to play in the 2nd round of World Cup qualifiers, India have to win all of its matches to move towards the next round. India will next play against Afghanistan on 26th March in Guwahati for their second encounter in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, 2026.
India XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK); Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke, Anwar Ali, Akash Mishra (Subhasish Bose 60’); Lalengmawia Ralte, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam (Deepak Tangri 74’); Lallianzuala Chhangte (Mahesh Naorem 74’), Sunil Chhetri (C), Manvir Singh (Liston Colaco 74’); Vikram Partap Singh (Brandon Fernandes 60’).
Written by Aditya Rout
