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Sportskeeda lists five talking points from India U-23’s 0-2 defeat against Pakistan U-23 at the Bangalore Football Stadium in Bangalore on Wednesday afternoon.
Two poor teams
Pakistan will gain a lot of confidence from this win while more questions will be asked about India’s performance but from a neutral point of view, the biggest conclusion that can be drawn from this second match and the series overall is that two poor teams were on show. Barring a few individuals, most players from the two teams are not good enough for international football yet with numerous basic errors in every department. India have been preparing for the Asian Games since the start of July but a lack of cohesion is evident in this group as they rarely put together a decent move in open play. This Pakistan squad have been playing together since February but they too struggled to stamp their authority on the game and the 2-0 scoreline was slightly flattering. Fans of both countries shouldn’t expect too much in next month’s Asian Games.
Pakistan’s big two step up
Despite the fact that it was an ordinary display from both sides, Pakistan can’t be denied the chance to celebrate this victory as it came away from home against the arch-rivals. Pakistan could Mohammad Shamlan would have been desperate to at least avoid a whitewash in the series but now he and his players will go back to Pakistan as heroes. Two players in particular stepped up for Pakistan and unsurprisingly it was their Kyrgyzstan-based duo – Kaleem Ullah and Saddam Hussain. With Shamlan ignoring foreign-born talent, a lot depended on the performances of Kaleem and Saddam – both of whom ply their trade for Kyrgyzstan’s Dordoi Bishkek. Kaleem was uncharacteristically wasteful in the first game but produced a moment of magic to score from a free-kick in the first half. Saddam showed great stamina throughout the game and after squandering a one-on-one chance, he made no mistake on the second instance to wrap up a memorable win for the visitors.
One-man show
Back in the semi-finals of last year’s SAFF Championship against Maldives the India senior team came out of Sunil Chhetri’s shadow as they won the match 1-0 despite the captain’s absence due to suspension. But the over-dependency on their star striker returned in the three friendlies after that tournament with Sunil gettong on the scoresheet in each of those games. The U-23 outfit is no different and on Wednesday it was yet again a one-man show as Sunil looked like the only player who could cause any damage to Pakistan. The Bengaluru FC skipper lacked support and gradually started getting frustrated as he even lost his temper and retaliated after being fouled. India have played five matches for the Asian Games preparations so far and Sunil has been the only scorer. That is a big worry for Wim Koevermans and there doesn’t seem to be any solution for the near future.
Robin was missed
The Bengaluru FC striker does often get criticised for his poor finishing and somewhat arrogant style but on the evidence of Wednesday’s game, India certainly missed him. Robin’s style of play may not be pleasing on the eye as he commits too many fouls and doesn’t have the best of first-touches. But his height and physical presence does cause problems to at least teams of the sub-continent. His replacement Thongkhosiem Haokip was a big flop as he not only wasted a golden opportunity after being played through on goal by Sunil but also failed to win the majority of his aerial duels with the Pakistan centre-backs. Haokip should get better with time as he has shown a lot of promise in the I-League but the Pune FC youngster is not ready for international football yet. Like it or not, Robin has to be regular starter for India U-23.
Wim’s lowest point
The Dutchman’s tenure as India coach has seen more lows than highs but Wednesday’s defeat was possibly the lowest point. Statistically his record as India coach is similar to that of Englishman Bob Houghton but under him India has been losing to nations that they didn’t use to in the past. Koevermans couldn’t even take India to the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup after the loss to Myanmar last year while India got completely outplayed by lower-ranked Nepal in the SAFF Championship and could only draw with Bangladesh in two meetings. They have lost their supremacy in the sub-continent to Afghanistan and although that is also a sign of an improvement from other nations in the region, the biggest disappointment in his reign since July 2012 is that the national team hasn’t moved forward.
The standard of the U-23 side is even worse so it is difficult to expect better results but Koevermans can be questioned for some of his selections like not picking enough wide midfielders meant he played central midfielder Clifton Dias on the left flank in the second half. The AIFF have tried their best to help in the preparations although the football team are not medal prospects but the coach just hasn’t produced the results and barring a miracle, the team will make an early exit from next month’s Asian Games.
