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Despite putting up an inspiring performance, India lost 1-2 to Jordan in their penultimate friendly before the AFC Asian Cup next year. This was the first match between the two countries which was played at King Abdullah II International Stadium in Amman on Saturday.
Missing most of their first team players, India conceded the first goal in the 25th minute thanks to a blunder by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Jordan increased their lead in the second half through a screamer from Ehsan Haddad. The visitors reduced the margin soon but failed to find an equaliser thereafter.
ALSO READ: 5 talking points from India vs Jordan
However, the off-field issues became a topic of debate even after the match. There were twists and turns on every step. There was a rumour of the match being called off until a twist on Saturday morning when the All Indian Football Federation announced that the match will go on despite several adversities.
We picked nine instances that highlighted more than what happened on the pitch:
#9 Booking two flights for players
Most of the developed countries have a private jet which carries off the players to other countries. In India, that is a distant dream. Even the richest sports body, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doesn’t have a private aircraft.
In that case, the wise idea was to book all the tickets on a single plane so that everyone could reach Jordan at the same time. But that didn’t happen. There were two groups, the first batch comprised seven players and the second one consisted of 15 players along with the coach and other support staffs.
The first reached Kuwait and was stuck there for 32 hours. The second batch was lucky as their flight was diverted to Doha and they reached Amman on Friday morning, only a few hours late of their scheduled arrival.
The first batch, which had seven players namely Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, Manvir Singh, Sumeet Passi, Udanta Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Ashique Kuruniyan had to overcome all the adversities.
It’s true that AIFF was unaware that something like this could happen but they should learn from their mistakes and should book all the tickets on the same carrier.
#8 Players getting stuck in Kuwait for 32 hours
The first batch was scheduled to take a connecting flight from Kuwait. But the flash floods not only ravaged Jordan but their middle-east neighbours also. As a result, the Kuwait Airport was inundated and no flights could take off as scheduled.
The players had to wait the entire Wednesday night waiting for an update of their flight. There were no hotels available for the players to take rest and they had to spend the whole time in the lounge.
That too was crowded as several other flights were also delayed and the passengers had to endure the same fate as the players. At one point in time, there was a food shortage at the airport.
They got the green signal on Friday afternoon and only reached Amman at 7 PM IST. This was followed by long immigration processes which took another couple of hours.
#7 No practice session or pre-match press conference
The full team got assembled only on Friday night, less than 24 hours before the kick-off. So, there was no question of having a practice session before the match. Neither there were any press conferences. The players were already exhausted and both the parties decided to call off their respective press conferences.
According to the rulebook, there has to be an official press conference of the participating teams before an international match. Teams should face severe punishment if they don’t follow the rulebook. But given the circumstances, nobody raised a question. Indian players had to take the field without any practice.
#6 Players’ kit arrives on day of the match
Even after all the players met each other, there were more reasons to worry. Players’ kits, team equipment and personal belongings of all the players and support staffs went missing when they landed in Amman. Virtually, there were no boots to play.
It only arrived on Saturday morning, five hours before the game was to take place. Before that, it was announced by AIFF that the match would go on and according to sources, they were asked to buy playing boots from the local market.
#5 Rumours of the match getting cancelled
From Friday night itself, there was news doing the rounds that the match has been called off. Even some of the popular websites flashed this story on their feed. Initial reports suggested that the players were suffering from exhaustion and tiredness as they couldn’t get their usual sleeping time and it was almost impossible for them to recover on time.
Even the Jordanian broadcaster said via their social media account that the match has been cancelled. But there was no official confirmation from AIFF.
By Saturday morning, the word spread all over the world and fans started showing their dissent over the mismanagement of the AIFF officials. Finally, around noon, AIFF announced the match would go on even after the adversities.
#4 Match back on as Jordan FA declares that ticket sales will go towards flood relief programme
Surprised by the sudden announcement, people started questioning what made AIFF take such a hasty decision. Also, what about the players’ condition? Did they get enough time to recover?
There were no specific answers from the AIFF but it was learnt that Jordan Football Association requested their counterparts to carry on the match as the money from the ticket sales would go to flood relief programme.
The Arabian country was already ravaged by the flash floods and many people lost their lives. India, despite difficult circumstances, accepted their proposal and told the players to take the field on time no matter what happens.
#3 None of the seven players figured in starting XI
Some of the prominent players like Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh and Ashique Kuruniyan were on the first batch that arrived on Friday night. Three of them were strikers. As India was missing Sunil Chhetri due to injury, at least two of them were expected to be included in the starting XI.
But India coach Stephen Constantine thought otherwise. He included three among them in the squad but neither of them got a place in the starting line-up. Kuruniyan was introduced at half-time and Passi also got his chance later on.
In the post-match press conference, Constantine clarified his decision, “We asked the seven players that came in late how they were feeling and we gave them a few hours to find themselves. I did not want to risk any player that was not feeling right in his skin and we did not risk any on medical grounds.”
#2 Gurpreet’s save and blunder
Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was given the responsibility to lead his national team in the absence of Sunil Chhetri and Sandesh Jhinghan. Gurpreet has all the ability to lead a side and he did so in the match, save one costly mistake.
Jordan goalkeeper Amer Shafi kicked the ball from his own box and the ball dropped just the edge off Indian goalmouth. For unknown reasons, Gurpreet was way ahead of his line and even after his best effort, he could only get a tip on the ball which dropped awkwardly and went into the net.
Before that, Gurpreet saved a controversial penalty of Bani Atiyeh which earned him praise from his teammates and coach. He also made a couple of good saves later on. But that one goal proved to be the difference between the two sides.
#1 Nishu Kumar - the debutant scores but India unable to convert a last-gasp equaliser
About an hour in the match, Constantine replaced Jackichand Singh and introduced Nishu Kumar, the latest player to make his debut in the national colours.
Nishu made his opportunity count and reduced the margin within three minutes after coming off the bench. Germanpreet Singh provided a low cross from the left which caught Jordan defenders off guard and an unmarked Nishu poked the ball into the net.
Nishu has already made a name for himself after his ISL performance with Bengaluru FC. He even scored a screamer against Jamshedpur in the first match of his team. He is a natural right-back but can play in the right wing also.
Constantine’s decision to give chances to youngsters are already bearing fruit and Nishu’s performance was the latest example.
