Afghanistan 1-1 India: Hits and Flops from the encounter

#4 Zelfagar Nazary – Hit

Zelfegar Nazary

Afghanistan came into the game as relative underdogs, courtesy their inferior FIFA ranking and the fact that they weren’t really being accorded any home advantage. Thus, plenty expected the Afghans to defend deep and try to capitalise on the occasional chance that would pop up. And, through the first half, they followed that plan to the tee with Zelfagar Nazary embodying that approach.

In the opening exchanges, India dominated the ball and barely allowed the Afghans to stitch anything substantial. However, Afghanistan resisted the temptation of pressing the Indians high up the pitch, meaning that they maintained their position in deeper areas and forced the Blue Tigers to play through the lines.

Nazary, alongside Noor Husin was vital to that modus operandi as the pair provided the adequate shield in front of the defence whereas they were also brave enough to hold onto the ball after India had relinquished possession.

The stupendous display of the duo completely nullified Sahal’s threat while they also didn’t allow Chhetri to function at optimum capacity.

And, to cap off a wonderful display, Nazary ended up bagging the opening goal on the stroke of half-time. After David Najem had cut the ball back into the box, the Western Pride FC midfielder timed his run to perfection to evade the attention of Pronay Halder. Subsequently, he found himself aptly stationed to stroke the ball into the roof of the net.

Thus, on a night when positives for both sides were far and few in between, Nazary stood out and quite emphatically at that.