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India’s first opponents of 2013 will be West Asian outfit Palestine, who are placed 14 spots higher than India in the FIFA Rankings at 152. Despite being up against a higher-ranked team, the Indian national team will be looking to make the most of their home advantage and get a positive result at Kochi’s Nehru Stadium on February 6.
However, it’s worth noting that India have a poor record against West Asian nations, both home and away. It’s true that there is a gulf in class between India and the majority of the West Asian teams, but that wasn’t the case during India’s glory days in the 50s, with the gold at the 1951 Asian Games coming with a 1-0 win over Iran in the final, thanks to a goal from Sahu Mewalal.
Another notable result against West Asian opposition was the goalless draw with Iran in the 1984 Asian Cup in Singapore.
One of India’s most famous results in international football also came against a West Asian country. We are referring to the 1-0 win over UAE in 2001 in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Midfielder Jules Alberto scored the winner as Sukhwinder Singh’s side defeated a team that was then ranked 64th in the world.
However, since then the results against West Asian opposition have been disappointing, thus giving an indication of how far India have gone behind in the continent.
Since that victory over UAE, India have met teams from West Asia on 26 occasions. They have registered only four wins, drawn five times and lost 17 matches.
Three of the four wins have come against Syria on home soil, with the most recent one being the 2-1 victory in the 2012 Nehru Cup.
The other win has possibly been India’s best away result in the last decade. It came on November 5, 2004, in an international friendly against Kuwait in Kuwait. India, who were at that time coached by Stephen Constantine, came from behind twice to win 3-2, with goals from Tomba Singh, Jerry Zirsanga and Abhishek Yadav. In July 2011, India did beat Qatar 2-1 in Qatar, but that was an unofficial match.
The five draws have all come in World Cup qualifiers, with the 2-2 stalemate against UAE in July 2011 ending a six-match losing streak against countries from West Asia.
Wim Koevermans will be determined to gradually improve India’s record against West Asian teams, and beating Palestine would be a great start. Palestine are one of the weakest teams of West Asia, and thus India should be aiming to get a positive result and build confidence ahead of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in March.
Here is a table on India’s results against West Asian opposition since that upset 1-0 win over UAE on April 8, 2001.
| Opponent | Home/Away | Score | Competition | Indian Goalscorer(s) | Date |
| Yemen | Home | 1-1 | WCQ 2002 | Bhaichung Bhutia | April 15 2001 |
| UAE | Away | 0-1 | WCQ 2002 | - | April 26 2001 |
| Yemen | Away | 3-3 | WCQ 2002 | Jo Paul Ancheri (2), IM Vijayan | May 4 2001 |
| Oman | Home | 1-5 | WCQ 2006 | Renedy Singh | March 31 2004 |
| Kuwait | Away | 3-2 | International Friendly | Tomba Singh, Jerry Zirsanga, Abhishek Yadav | November 5 2004 |
| Oman | Away | 0-0 | WCQ 2006 | - | November 11 2004 |
| Yemen | Home | 0-3 | 2007 Asian Cup Qualifiers | - | March 1 2006 |
| Saudi Arabia | Home | 0-3 | 2007 Asian Cup Qualifiers | - | August 16 2006 |
| Saudi Arabia | Away | 1-7 | 2007 Asian Cup Qualifiers | NS Manju | September 6 2006 |
| Yemen | Away | 1-2 | 2007 Asian Cup Qualifiers | NP Pradeep | November 15 2006 |
| Syria | Home | 2-3 | Nehru Cup 2007 round robin stage | Sunil Chhetri, K Ajayan | August 23 2007 |
| Syria | Home | 1-0 | Nehru Cup 2007 final | NP Pradeep | August 29 2007 |
| Lebanon | Away | 1-4 | WCQ 2010 | Sunil Chhetri | October 8 2007 |
| Lebanon | Home | 2-2 | WCQ 2010 | Sunil Chhetri, Steven Dias | October 30 2007 |
| Lebanon | Home | 0-1 | Nehru Cup 2009 round robin stage | - | August 19 2009 |
| Syria | Home | 0-1 | Nehru Cup 2009 round robin stage | - | August 29 2009 |
| Syria | Home | 0-0 (India won 5-4 on penalties) | Nehru Cup 2009 final | - | August 31 2009 |
| Yemen | Home | 3-6 | International Friendly | Yemen OG, Abhishek Yadav, Surkumar Singh | October 13 2010 |
| Iraq | Neutral | 0-2 | International Friendly | - | November 11 2010 |
| Kuwait | Neutral | 1-9 | International Friendly | Mohammed Rafi | November 14 2010 |
| UAE | Away | 0-5 | International Friendly | - | November 18 2010 |
| Bahrain | Neutral | 2-5 | Asian Cup 2011 | Gouramangi Singh, Sunil Chhetri | January 14 2011 |
| UAE | Away | 0-3 | WCQ 2014 | - | July 23 2011 |
| UAE | Home | 2-2 | WCQ 2014 | Gouramangi Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua | July 28 2011 |
| Oman | Away | 1-5 | International Friendly | Joaquim Abranches | February 23 2012 |
| Syria | Home | 2-1 | Nehru Cup 2012 round robin stage | Sunil Chhetri, Anthony Pereira | August 22 2012 |
