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After capitalising on a gifted opportunity thanks to an error from the All Whites’ goalkeeper, it was none other than our captain fantastic, Sunil Chhetri who scored India’s only goal of the night.
Conceding their first goal of the tournament in the form of an equaliser from New Zealand’s De Jong, who found the back of the back of the net only a couple of minutes after Chhetri’s goal. Moving deeper into the game, it was Fritz Schmid’s super sub, Moses Dyer who took the lead for his side until the final whistle of the game.
While Jeje took the field at the forty-five-minute mark to make a half-century of appearances in the colours of India, sadly, there wasn’t much even the Mizo Sniper could do to save India’s sinking ship against the Kiwis tonight.
As usual, the Blue Pilgrims and fans in Mumbai turned out in large numbers and created a splendid atmosphere around the stadium in Andheri, however, only to watch their favoured team to taste the first loss of their Intercontinental Cup campaign.
Here are five moments of significance from the fixture.
#1 Anirudh Thapa
The 20-year-old midfielder has been exceptional for the Blue Tigers throughout the tournament.
He has been extremely efficient, and with a display of such talent and resilience from the youngster, the future of Indian football certainly seems to be in good hands.
Succeeding the likes of his seniors such as Eugenson Lyngdoh, CK Vineeth, Calvin Lobo etc., Thapa seems to have the midfield department of the squad under control.
His performance not only against New Zealand tonight, but in the entire competition has been on point.
Him paired with his midfield partner, Pronoy Halder, have made a potent duo for the Indian side.
Thapa’s confidence on the ball, determination to win each and every tackle he involves himself in, and the fact that he doesn’t seem to shy away from always freeing himself and landing in position to fearless ask for the ball are qualities that have had his name doing the rounds of numerous experts.
Even though India lost out to an excessively attacking New Zealand side tonight, through his performance, Thapa proved that he means business and is here to make himself a permanent feature of Constantine’s tactics.
#2 Sarpreet Singh
Right from the opening minutes of the match, Sarpreet Singh had been causing havoc in the Indian defence.
Cross after cross into the box, the 19-year-old attacking midfielder from New Zealand had the Indian defence well under pressure.
The Blue Tigers were caught on the back foot a number of times as the All Whites’ constantly attacked Amarinder Singh’s goal through the ninety minutes.
Taking home the $2500 prize money for being the ‘Hero of the match’, the young gun impressed with his vision and precision to pass the ball around the park and perhaps was the most effective playmaker wearing the white shirt tonight.
#3 Pritam Kotal
While he made a difference in the first half for India defensively, fatigue seemed to have kicked in for Kotal as he was caught napping on a couple of occasions during the course of the ninety minutes.
The 24-year-old right back had his name included in Constantine’s starting XI against New Zealand in place of Sandesh Jhingan, who has been a supreme level asset for the Blue Tigers.
Pritam made some brilliant clearances and headed out a number of crosses from harshly attacking New Zealand, however, the Indian defence quite visibly missed the presence of Jhingan at the back tonight.
#4 Sunil Chhetri
Captain, leader, legend!
Any amount of praise for the man is not enough. He is truly a class apart. Though tonight he and his team were unsuccessful in their endeavours to secure their spot in the finale of the 2018 Intercontinental Cup, he managed to score yet another goal for his side.
While his goal may not have been an exceptionally finished strike like his usual ones, it was one that reminded us of the very recent UEFA Champions Finals where Karim Benzema found the back of the net in a similar fashion.
Be it running down the wings, helping out at the back or even getting those through balls in place, Chhetri has got it all in his skill bag – it’s what makes him stand out a class apart from the rest.
#5 New Zealand attack vs Indian defense
Having started the game with seven changes in the line-up, the Indian side seemed uprooted and unsettled at the back.
With Subhasish Bose, Kotal, Narayan Das, and Ranjan Singh as the back four of the Indian defence, the Blue Tigers played most of the game defending the ball in the Indian side of the Mumbai Sports Complex pitch.
Constant attacking throughout the game from New Zealand and Sarpreet Singh prying to link up with his strikers up front, the defenders were being beaten rather easily.
The Indian seemed vulnerable in the majority of the games. There was always a lack of communication amid the defence line and that cost the Indian side a couple of goals that resulted in being overpowered by their opponents of the night.
The All Whites had third man making those crucial runs into Amarinder’s box over and over, and our defenders were having a hard time to keep up with their attacking style of play.
India must do better and work harder as a unit in order to keep up the intense thrashings wins that they have had in both their matches (5-0 vs Chinese Taipei and 3-0 vs Kenya) of the tournament.
Can India bounce back from this recent setback? Sound off in the comments section below!
