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The Indian football team won their first match of the World Cup qualification campaign, as they defeated Guam 1-0 in a match where they spent more than half of the 90 minutes with only 10 men as Sehraj Singh was sent off in the 41st minute. However, they managed a win in front of a noisy Bengaluru crowd.
Here are the player ratings from the game.
India (on a scale of 1 to 10):
Gurkeerat Singh Sandhu- 7.5
The Indian shot-stopper was at his brilliant best in the match. He made numerous saves during the match and kept the Guam forwards at bay.
Narayan Das- 7
The full-back was one of the better performers of the day. He displayed a great level of stamina as he was constantly running up and down the left-side and made some good tackles as well.
Sandesh Jhingan- 6.5
The Chandigarh-born centre-back made a couple of last-ditch tackles and intercepted the ball quite a few times to keep the clean sheet for his team.
Arnab Mondal- 6.5
The Kolkata-based defender paired up well with Jhingan and tried to nullify Guam’s attacks with his physicality.
Pritam Kotal- 5
The right-back did not have a good game, as a number of Guam’s attacks came from the left flank. He will surely try to up the ante from the next game.
Romeo Fernandes- 5
The winger made his debut for the Indian football team. He made a few runs down the right wing, but he had to sacrifice his place for Harmanjot Khabra as Sehnaj Singh was sent off and the midfield needed more protection.
Cavin Lobo- 6.5
The attacking midfielder was constantly creating problems for the Guam side with his build up play and penetrating passes.
Eugeneson Lyngdoh- 6
The FC Pune City player had a decent outing and took a couple of shots as well, but was not able to find the back of the net. However, he linked well with Chhetri during some build-up plays.
Sehnaj Singh- 4
The Delhi Dynamos midfielder had a forgettable match as he was sent off in the 41st minute for a rash tackle. His sending-off in the first half meant India played more than half of the match with 10-men.
Robin Singh- 7.5
The Delhi-born striker scored a sublime goal in the starting minutes of the match when he turned the defender inside out and struck the ball into the top right corner of the goal. He was a constant threat for the Guam side as long as he was on the field.
Sunil Chhetri- 7
The Indian captain was again instrumental for his side with his passes and shots, though he looked very tired in the last few minutes of the game. He was the one who kept up the pressure and was easily one of the best players on the field. He struck a beautiful curling shot in the final few minutes of the game, but the ball went just wide.
Substitutes:
Harmanjot Khabra- 6
The midfielder was brought in to strengthen the midfield after Sehnaj Singh was sent off in the first half. He did a fair job as India came under tremendous pressure when Guam went for the win owing to the numerical advantage.
Jeje Lalpheklua- 5.5
The speedy forward was brought in for the goal-scorer Robin Singh to inject some freshness to the attacking unit in the 63rd minute and delivered, but it left India will fewer aerial balls won in attack when they cleared the ball.
Augustin- N/A
He was brought in for Cavin Lobo in the 91st minute.
