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Heading into the Asian Cup, India was considered to be the dark horse of the tournament. While many were quick to write the Blue Tigers off, optimistic fans believed that India could make it through to the knockout stages of the tournament. It was only India's fourth ever Asian Cup campaign and their first since 2011, so the anxiety and excitement amongst the fans were well justified. They would, however, hope that they do better in the competition than they did in their last two campaigns with their last win in the AFC Asian Cup coming in 1964.
Constantine's men headed into the campaign with a mix of results in the friendlies before the tournament. While they lost 2-1 to Jordan, they did manage draws against the likes of China and Oman, two teams that have a much more developing system compared to India's. But being the second highest ranked football team, India could afford to be confident going into the tournament.
India ran rampant against Thailand on the opening day of the AFC Asian Cup after an unconvincing first half which ended 1-1. With the talismanic striker, Sunil Chhetri scoring two, the young magician, Anirudh Thapa scoring one and the Mizo sniper, Jeje Lalpekhlua scoring the final goal, India cruised to victory as they hope to carry this momentum forward to the next game against hosts, United Arab Emirates.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from one of the most monumental games for the Blue Tigers
#1 Sunil Chhetri proves why he should be captaining the side
The rift between Stephen Constantine and Sunil Chhetri has been made public for quite some time now. Constantine even removed Chhetri from captaincy and named Sandesh Jhingan as the new captain of the side. However, for the game against Thailand, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was chosen as the captain. This passing on of captaincy from one player to another baffles all the Indian fans as a majority of them believe that Chhetri should be named the captain.
While Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is undoubtedly experienced and one of the more vocal players, always guiding his back line, Sunil Chhetri has the most experience in the team. He has personified everything the Indian football team stands for and scored important goals time and again for the country. With 67 goals for India, Sunil Chhetri is the second highest international goalscorer amongst active players. So it is no surprise that whenever India need a goal, the entire country will all turn to one man - the legendary no.11 and boy, does he deliver. After scoring the opening goal for India with a stunning penalty, Chhetri gave India the lead following a good run from Udanta Singh on the wing.
It was evident how badly the Bengaluru FC forward wanted to win this game and proceed to the knockout stages of the tournament. Vocal, aggressive and zealous as always, Chhetri led the team from the front - guiding the players around him, shouting at them when they made mistakes and congratulating the entire team along with some pep talk once they won the game. His enthusiasm and vigour are second to none. This shows that he is the captain India needs in this big tournament. Constantine should let go of the little feud and name Sunil Chhetri as the captain in the games coming ahead. It is only beneficial for the team that they are led by the man who has given his life to bringing the team to the big stage.
#2 Solid centre-back pairing but poor set-piece defending
Constantine named the usual centreback partnership of Anas Edathodika and Sandesh Jhingan. I was personally pessimistic about this selection as Anas has had an average season so far and not found his form after suffering an injury setback in 2018. But the pairing of him alongside Jinghan is no rarity. The two have been the centre-backs of the Indian national team for a long time now and also play together for Kerala Blasters in the Hero Indian Super League. But dealing with the familiar domestic opponents is different from facing the top footballing nations around Asia.
Thailand has the technical ability to counter in seconds and punish any side quickly. They can play amazingly threaded through balls or just dribble their way into the final third. But Anas and Sandesh had something else in store for the War Elephants. They didn't allow any attack in the second half and were quick to deal with any threat offered by Thailand. With numerous tackles throughout the game, the duo ensured Thailand stayed out of the game once they secured a lead in the game. An impressive 6 recoveries, 3 interceptions and 3 defensive blocks from the two capped off their amazing performance.
While the centre back pairing looked superb during open play, they struggled to defend set pieces. Thailand got their only goal of a free kick which was taken cleverly. The Thailand attackers simply ran into the 6-yard box faster than the Indian defenders and were, therefore, able to score. This was a clear example that showed India haven't practised defending set pieces enough and can get punished for it. While Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has come out many a time to get a glove on the ball, it can also go horribly wrong as we saw one of the free kicks rebound of Sandhu and ricochet onto Anas only to go just wide of the goal. India will surely have to improve this aspect of the game if they hope to qualify for the round of 16.
#3 India needs more men in midfield
Despite winning 4-1, there are many areas where India can hope to improve. Constantine's idea of using Ashique Kuruniyan as the no.9 who would drift around and hold up the ball was fairly successful as it led to the first goal. But coming into the second half, Kuruniyan never really had an impact on the game. In hopes to have the no.13 hold up the ball for India, the players kept launching the ball upfield but only to give the ball away to Thailand.
One of the main reasons why India sorted to launch the ball upfield was the lack of midfielders. The usual formation of a 4-4-2 was played but it seemed flat and very direct at times. Although many might argue that India needs to have a direct approach towards this tournament and not play 'tippy-tappy' football, it is when India play quick passes that they can prove to be a threat.
To play on the counter, it is not necessary that India needs to have a striker who holds up the ball, they can also exploit the pace of the wingers. It was this pace that served as the engine behind the second and the third goal.
Adding Borges into midfield to form a double pivot alongside Pronay Halder might be the solution to India's lack of playing more passes. This move allows Thapa to play further up the pitch where he will have lesser defensive duties and more freedom to show his immense talent and feed the likes of Udanta, Narzary and Chhetri. It also allows India to be more compact while defending which can prove successful against the likes of UAE and Bahrain.
#4 Jeje finds his shooting boots
If I told you last season that Jeje Lalpekhlua has failed to score in 11 games in the Indian Super League 2018/19 campaign, you would probably laugh at my face. But the Mizo sniper has indeed failed to score in 11 games for Chennaiyin FC and his form with India hasn't been great either, failing to score in all of the recent matches. This poor form also meant a downward decline in confidence as Jeje was failing to convert some easy chances and received criticism from the same pundits who showered praise on him last season.
After the downward spiral this season, Constantine decided to drop the 28-year-old for India's first game in the AFC Asian Cup. Ashique Kuruniyan took his place and played impressively well for the opening 45 minutes as he held up the ball well and won the penalty for India's opening goal.
Jeje knew his spot in the starting 11 was being threatened and that he had to shine if he was called into action. His opportunity came in the 78th minute when he was substituted into the pitch for Kuruniyan. It didn't take long for him to find the back of the net. Two minutes after his substitution, he found himself in space with the ball on the edge of the box. He cleverly finished the ball past the Thailand keeper and celebrated ecstatically as it was his first goal in nearly ten months.
The Mizo sniper has finally found his shooting boots. The fans couldn't have asked for a better time for Jeje to end his goal drought as the Blue Tigers now take on UAE and Bahrain in the group stages of the tournament. They will surely hope that Jeje fires them to victory and to the next stage of the tournament.
#5 India could actually qualify for the knockout stages
India did not have high hopes from the tournament. Despite having a higher rank than two of the other three teams in their group, India has far lesser resources and developmental programs to keep up with the likes of Bahrain and Thailand.
Filled with youth and energy, Thailand expected to make quick work of India. But instead, they got thrashed 4-1 and will wonder how they lost a game they were so confident of winning. The answer was a strong performance from the entire team of India and the manner in which they worked as a cohesive unit.
With the Constantine controversy surrounding the team before the tournament, many feared that it would affect the performance of the team.
But, India did not slow down, they continued to run rampant past teams as the likes of Chhetri, Thapa, Udanta and Jhingan shined for India. They proved that they could potentially qualify for the Round of 16 and reach further in the tournament.
After picking up the first victory since 1964, they will hope to pick up inspiration from that very '64 campaign where India finished runners-up. With Bahrain and UAE drawing against each other, a win from any of the remaining two games could potentially be enough to reach the knockout stages. A third-place finish could also see the Blue Tigers progress as the top 4 teams that are placed third qualify for the Round of 16.
