1(1) | 6(7) |
That’s the full time. India win by an overwhelming margin of 6 goals (on aggregate). Jackichand Singh who came on late into the first half was the star of the show with a handful of assists. This will do the Indian players a lot of good ahead of the last qualifier match.
90+1’: Chance for Jeje, but blocked by the goalkeeper. He really is desperate to complete his hattrick.
90’: Jackichand with another cross from the left, Passi goes for a diving header, just wide. Might have hurt himself in the process.
87’: Goal! Jackichand with another assist, this time for the debutant Cardoza who heads into the bottom corner.
84’: Another Goal for India. Sunil Chhetri takes a short corner and finds Md. Rafique at the edge of the box, he shoots, the ball deflects and loops over the head of the goalkeeper.
82’: Another chance for India, Jackichand crosses from the left to the back post. Passi brings the ball forward for Chhetri who lays the ball off for George and the ball deflects behind for corner.
80’: Substitution for India. Eugenson off for Alwyn George.
76’: Another chance for India. Jackichand tries to curve the ball with the outside of his foot into Jeje, just beyond his reach.
74’: Brilliant goal! Jeje at it again, a beautifully weighted pass by Sunil Chhetri onto who takes a touch and slots it into the bottom left corner.
73’: Change for India. Expectedly, Perrera comes off for another debutant in Cardoza.
71’: Keegan Perrera seems to be struggling with cramps. Narayan Das is warming up.
66’: Chance for Laos. the ball is worked into the middle, a shot at goal, easily collected again by Gurpreet.
65’: Substitution for Laos. Sihavong off, Souksavath in.
61’: India with another quick counter-attack. Jackichand with inch-perfect cross this time, onto the head of Passi, who disappointingly heads the ball into the air.
60’: Lovely build-up play by India, the final pass was overhit for Sunil Chhetri.
57’: Jackichand Singh with another chance to cross, but overhits it this time, goes over the head of Sunil Chhetri.
50’: Another chance for India, Jackichand shoots from the right, the ball is parried away by the goalkeeper and it reaches Jeje, who hesitates and the ball gets cleared.
49’: GOAL! Sandesh with the header into the bottom corner from a Eugenson free-kick from the left..
46’: Chance for India! Perrera lifts the ball forward for to Jeje, who heads the ball down to Passi who shoots first time, straight at the gaolkeeper.
45’: We get off for the second half. Laos need two goals to go level on aggregate.
45’: Khouanta in for Khochalern. Substitution for Laos.
The introduction of Jackichand changed the game for India. Before that, Laos looked the better of the two teams. The ploy of starting four forwards didn’t really work for Constantine. Udanta Singh, who I thought had a decent game till then was substituted in favor of a midfielder and enabled India keep better posession of the ball.
45’: GOAL for India. Passi this time, Jackichand with another assist, this time from the left, he has really changed the game after coming on. Passi runs to Constantine to celebrate the goal.
42’: GOAL!! Jeje again. Jackichand Singh comes in and crosses for Jeje, Passi tries to head it, reaches Jeje, who brings down the ball and slots it cooly into the corner.
41’: Jackichand Singh in for Udanta. Substitution for India.
39’: India have had better possession in the middle in the last few minutes but have been unable to make in-roads into the Laos back-line.
33’: A very laboured freekick by India from about 35 yards out. Sunil Chhetri with the back heal to Perrera who can’t connect properly. Should have crossed it into the box, eh?
30’: CHANCE for India! Corner by Eugenson, the goalkeeper again makes a mess of the cross, India again fail to capitalise.
25’: A pile driver by the Laos defensive midfielder Khampen, but straight at Gurpreet who takes collects it easliy.
21’: Huge appeals for a penalty, Sunil takes on a player on the left back Phonsetta and is brought down, referee waves play on.
19’: Huge chance for India. Jeje can’t make anything of the rebound in the box.
16’: GOAL! Huge Goal for Laos. Indian offside trap falters again. Laos work the well from the left into the middle. Gurpreet beaten on his first post by Sihavong .
13’: Sandesh has again started the game brilliantly for India, a la Sergio Ramos?
11’: CHANCE! Huge chance for Laos, Laos play a ball over the Indian defence, Indian defence stand still, expecting the flag to go up, Sandesh thankfully clears the ball with a last dish challenge.
9’: Another chance for India, a freekick from the right is swung in by the left back Pereira, the goalkeeper Sengphachan fumbles, but India can’t take advantage of the ball in the box.
7’: Udanta SIngh beats his man on the right, after collecting a clearance from the Laos defence. Jeje swings at the cross, misses it totally. CHANCE!
4’: Laos have started the game better than India. India yet have some meaningful possession.
3’: Foul throw by Rino Anto, well done mate!
1’: India kick off the game, but Laos straight away on the attack, cross from the right, Gurpreet collects easily.
0’: The formalities of the National Anthems are over. Indians in their traditional blue, and Laos in red.
We are twenty minutes away from kick-off. The big news is Sumeet Passi starting up-front, Jeje might play just behind Passi. Keegan Pereira debuts in place of Narayan Das.
Here’s the starting 11s for India and Laos
India Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Gurpreet Singh Sandhu(GK); Keegan Pereira, Arnab Mondal, Sandesh Jhingan, Rino Anto; Udanta Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Md. Rafique, Sunil Chhetri (C),Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sumeet Passi.
Laos Starting XI(4-3-3): Sengphachan(GK); Phachanhtha, Phonsetta, Moukda; Phattana, Khochalern, Souliyavong, Manolom; Sihavong, Khantavong, Khampeng(C).
The morale in the Indian camp should be high post the hard-fought 0-1 win away to Laos in the first leg. The Indians took the lead via a Jeje goal in the 58th minute and pretty much sat back and soaked up the pressure for the rest of the game. Laos captain Khampheng almost made amends in the last minute of injury time, narrowly heading wide.
The Indians dominated possession for most of the game but struggled to make things happen in the final third against a Laos team sitting 14 places below them in the rankings. Sunil Chhetri looked particularly bright in the game, with a few brilliant touches.
Jeje continued to show why he is the AIFF Player of the Year as he did what he does best, finish. Udanta Singh, the 'next big thing' in Indian football with the assist, but worryingly for Constantine, he did hardly anything else of note throughout the game.
One of the positives from the game was definitely the performance Sandesh at the back alongside the always reliable Arnab Mondal. Another positive was the performance of Eugenson from midfield, though he wasted a couple of opportunities from the edge of the box.
The Indian coach Constantine isn't taking anything for granted, “We won 1-0 there. It's 0-0 as far as I am concerned. It's finished. We are not looking at that. We are looking to win this game and if we play our game, we will.". Indian fans will hope their game isn't lumping the ball forward from the center-backs to the strikers.
Laos will definitely be aggrieved for not making the most of the home advantage in the first leg. The will need to win the game by a margin of more than one goal to go through to the last 24 teams. A draw for India would take them to the next round, but they would like to lay down the marker with a comprehensive win.
Probale Lineups
India (4-3-3):
Gurpreet Singh (GK); Narayan Das, Arnab Mondal, Sandesh Jhingan, Rino Anto; Eugenson Lyngdoh, Md. Rafique Holicharan Narzary; Udanta Singh, Sunil Chhetri (C), Jeje Lalpekhlua.
Laos (4-3-3):
Keodouangdeth(GK); Maitee, Phimmasane, Phachanhtha, Phonsettha; Khochalern, Souksavath, Kounvongsa; Souliyavong, Phomsouvanh, Sayavuthi.
The game is live from the 7 PM IST.
