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Sportskeeda concludes this new series by looking back at India’s performance in the 2010 edition.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh, Laxmikant Kattimani, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
Defenders: Dharmaraj Ravanan, Rowilson Rodrigues, Denzil Franco, Robert Lalthamuana, Raju Gaikwad, Abhishek Das, Inderpreet Singh, Lalrozama Fanai
Midfielders: Milan Singh, Manish Maithani, Shilton D’Silva, Jewel Raja, Lalrindika Ralte, Jibon Singh, Tirthankar Sarkar, Subodh Kumar, Joaquim Abranches
Forwards: Balwant Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Jagtar Singh, Malswamfela
Coach: Sukhwinder Singh
Overview
After having an English head coach for two consecutive editions, an Indian was at the helm again for the Asian Games with the legendary Sukhwinder Singh being in charge. The nucleus of the team came from the squad that won the 2009 SAFF Championship in Bangladesh and AIFF’s developmental side Indian Arrows with goalkeeper Karanjit Singh, right back Denzil Franco and winger Joaquim Abranches being the overage players. For the second straight edition India were drawn with the defending champions with Qatar being the holders in this instance while Kuwait and Singapore were the other two teams.
On paper India were certainly inferior to Qatar and Kuwait but the format of the tournament gave them a chance of progressing to the knockouts as besides the top two of each of the six groups, four other best third-placed teams would also reach the round of 16. So India had to get the better of Singapore but their first game was against Kuwait and they lost 2-0. No one gave India a chance against Qatar so defender Dharmaraj Ravanan’s first-half opener was a big shock. India held on to their lead till the 80th minute but then conceded two late goals to lose 2-1.
Many sections of the media back in India were not even aware that the football team was still in contention for a knockout berth after losing the first two games. India needed a big win over Singapore to progress and they managed to do just that, winning four 4-1 with four different players on the scoresheet – Jewel Raja, Balwant Singh, Jibon Singh and Manish Maithani. The result saw India finish as the best third-placed team and thus qualified for the knockouts for the first time since 1982. India were outclassed by eventual gold medal winners Japan 5-0 in the round of 16 tie but Sukhwinder Singh and his boys broke a 28-year jinx.
Novy Kapadia’s Insight
India performed creditably in the 2010 Asian Games, especially in attack with a convincing 4-1 win over Singapore. India even led 1-0 against mighty Qatar but conceded twice in the last ten minutes to lose 1-2. Defenders Denzil Franco, and Dharmaraj Ravannan performed heroically in all matches.
However from that squad only Denzil Franco made the progression to the senior national team smoothly and now is a regular there. The career of Ravannan has got stalled. Midfielders Jewel Raja Sheikh and Joaquim Abranches along with forwards Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singh also excelled. Unfortunately Jewel has got distracted and his career has not taken off. Abranches has been affected by injuries and Jeje has been inconsistent. Balwant returned to form last season and finally made his senior India debut in match in a friendly match vs Bangladesh.
India qualified for the pre-quarter finals as one of the four best third-placed teams. However they could not cope with the speed and variety of Japan and surrendered meekly thereby confirming that the gap between the developed football nations in Asia and the other countries is immense.
Results
Group Stage:
November 7 2010: India 0-2 Kuwait
November 9 2010: India 1-2 Qatar – Indian scorer: Dharmaraj Ravanan 19’
November 11 2010: India 4-1 Singapore – Indian scorers: Jewel Raja 13’, Balwant Singh 62’, Jibon Singh 67’, Manish Maithani 75’
Round of 16
November 16 2010: India 0-5 Japan
Final position: Eliminated from the round of 16
