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All’s well that ends well. This makes much more sense after the first round exit of India from the group stages. A hopeful ambition of qualifying from the group stage for the first time in the Asian Cup history turned into a distant dream with crashing out in the unlikeliest of situation.
Everything went against India with them losing and Thailand drawing against the group favourites UAE. The dreary result had some brilliant performances for India to take some positives out from the tournament.
Let’s have a look at the top 5 Indian performers in the Asian Cup 2019.
#5 Anirudh Thapa
A brilliant performance in the first two games to see himself benched in the most crucial fixture of the tournament. Stephen Constantine got it all wrong to bench the most versatile midfielder after two great performances.
Subbing off Thapa in the second half against UAE completely changed the dynamics of the team. Stephen Constantine didn’t learn from his mistakes.
Pronay Halder and Thapa made a great pair in midfield, both complementing each other with their talent and abilities. Thapa linked up beautifully with the front four which helped India to score 4 goals against Thailand.
The calm and composed lob above the goalkeeper to score the third goal for India against Thailand is his highlight for the tournament.
Matches played - 3 (1)
Goals - 1
Assists - 0
#4 Pronay Halder
A warrior. An underrated player who gives his all for the team. Chasing every ball, breaking off opponent’s play in the middle of the park, doing all the dirty, untidy things for his team, putting in some beautiful diagonal balls, he does all that can be asked of a central defensive midfielder.
A humongous performance in the last match was marred by his tackle on Hamad Al-Shamsan at the last minutes of the match to concede a penalty and thus throw India out of the Asian Cup. Performance against Bahrain is his highlight for the tournament.
Matches Played - 3
#3 Udanta Singh
The lanky fast-paced winger from Manipur wreaked havoc in the right wing, giving a hard time to the opponents' defences. The link-up play between Udanta and Ashique Kuruniyan throughout the tournament is a point to be noted by the next manager of India.
Udanta has assisted one and pre-assisted another (which should have been another assist), but the play he created for Anirudh Thapa to feed Sunil Chhetri against UAE in the 22nd minute, which Chhetri hit straight at the goalkeeper is his highlight for the tournament.
The composure he showed during the play shows the maturity he has gained over just 3 years.
Matches Played - 3
Goals - 0
Assists - 1
Pre-Assists - 1
#2 Sandesh Jhingan
The 6’2” tall defender was rock solid in defence for India. One of the most consistent performers over the years once again gave a top-notch performance in the tournament.
He was the sole reason India did not concede any goal against Bahrain in the first half. The fierce defender never backed away from making a crunch tackle or making interceptions. The first half performance against Bahrain was his highlight for the tournament.
Matches Played – 3
#1 Sunil Chhetri
The top performer is the talismanic, de facto leader of the Blue Tigers, Sunil Chhetri.
The leadership qualities he brings in the field is highly commendable. He doesn’t just improve his own game but the entire performance of the team.
When everyone was busy whacking away of the ball against Bahrain, ‘Captain Fantastic’ kept his cool, held onto the ball and passed to his teammates. He chased every ball on the opponent’s half, encouraged others to do it and even helped his team in defence.
A UAE newspaper dedicated a front-page cartoon to Chhetri after he surpassed Lionel Messi’s goal tally of 65 in the international circuit.
This shows the respect he has gained from the whole world. Also, Chhetri’s second goal in India’s 4-1 win against Thailand has been nominated as one of the 10 best goals in the group stage of the Asian Cup.
Matches Played - 3
Goals - 2
Assists - 0
Notable mentions: Gurpreet Sing Sandhu, Ashique Kuruniyan
