Sunil Chhetri’s first half brace put India 2-0 up, before Tajikistan completed a remarkable turnaround in second half, scoring four goals in 20 minutes to begin their Intercontinental Cup campaign with a win.
Related:
Tournament preview | Who is Igor Stimac? | I-League vs AIFF
(Wait a couple of minutes for the blog to load. If it still doesn’t load, please click here.)
India kick-off the 2019 Intercontinental Cup on June 7 with a backdrop of mass confusion reigning over the domestic football scene. While all eyes are on the AIFF Executive Committee meeting scheduled for June 9, the national team will hope to k…
India lost their first match under Igor Stimac 3-1 to Curacao in the King’s Cup, a scoreline that accurately reflected the dominance the Caribbean side. They will now face Thailand in the third-place playoff, but ahead of that, we look at what we learnt from India’s performance against a side ranked 20 places above them in the FIFA rankings.
Before we look at the key takeaways, a couple of disclaimers – Stimac is a man known for tinkering — the Croatian national team was a painful testament to…
The AFC Cup is the second tier of Asia’s continental club competition. The group stages will see 36 teams compete in nine groups of four each, with each group divided geographically. India’s representation comes by the way of 2017-18 I-league champions Minerva Punjab and 2017-18 ISL champions Chennaiyin FC, both of whom are clubbed in the South Zone group – Group E. The two teams will play each other on Wednesday at 7:30 PM IST in Ahmedabad – the designated venue for Chennaiyin’s home matches in…
It’s minute 76. Goa’s Hugo Boumous has just come on. Playing a series of quick one-twos he moves into the box where he takes a slightly heavy touch. Sensing an opening, Mumbai City’s Joyneur Lourenco dives in. Just as he’s about to nick the ball away, Boumous flicks it over the sprawled, stunned centre back before smacking it at Amrinder Singh. No goal, but that flick though. Magic.
FC Goa were in the mood as they smashed five past the Mumbai City goal, but if we had to pick out one moment to tell…
NorthEast United will take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of their semifinal with Bengaluru FC, thanks to Juan Mascia’s injury-time penalty and a stunning opener from Redeem Tlang in the first half. NorthEast put in a stellar performance for the majority of the game, but will rue the away goal they conceded to a moment of brilliance from Sunil Chhetri, who set up Xisco Hernandez with a wonderful assist. Here are the player ratings for each team.
NorthEast United
Positives
Dominated the first…
Bengaluru FC are unbeaten and at the top of the table
After a five-week break, the Indian Super League is back in action, with a number of high-profile clashes. As the runaway leaders, Bengaluru FC are all but through to the playoffs, but the remaining three spots are still up for grabs.
Can Nelo Vingada win Blasters’ fans over?
Nelo Vingada has had a lot of success in his career. His last major triumph, though, came in 2010, when he led FC Seoul to the K-League title. Since then, he has managed 86 matches – for Chinese club Dalian Shide, the Iran…
India fell into the trap of playing for the draw that would have taken them through to the knockout stages, and in the end it cost them as captain on the night Pronay Halder gave away a penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Jamal Rashed hammered it home to take Bahrain through.
Positives
The problem with playing for a draw, employing a low-block for ninety minutes, is that if the result doesn’t go your way it’s going to be hard to find any positives. India’s defending, though, was top-notch…
Edu Bedia (L) celebrates Goa’s second goal against NorthEast.
In the end, the score read FC Goa 5 – 1 NorthEast United FC, but it could have been anything, really.
It could have been a badminton score if the winners had taken the three simple chances they’d had when the score was at 0-0 in the first half, or the couple they’d missed while already miles ahead in the second.
Five minutes before Ferran Corominas opened the scoring for Goa with an brilliant finish, defender Carlos Pena won a foul for a push in his own box. Had the ref not seen it as a push, the…
Edu Bedia (L) celebrates Goa’s second goal against NorthEast.
In the end, the score read FC Goa 5-1 NorthEast United FC, but it could have been anything, really.
It could have been a badminton score if Goa had taken most of their chances.
Five minutes before Ferran Corominas opened the scoring for Goa with an brilliant finish, defender Carlos Pena won a foul for a push in his own box. Had the ref not seen it as a push, the Spaniard would have been penalised for a ludicrously silly handball. NorthEast would have won a penalty, and the hosts might never have…