'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 'Blue Tigers' started their AFC Asian Cup 2019 campaign quite brilliantly as they outplayed Thailand 4-1 in their first group stage encounter. That victory over Thailand was the first win for India in the tournament after 55 long years.
Last time, in the year 2011, team India participated in the tournament and finished their campaign at the 16th position. This year, Stephen Constantine's men looked more confident to make it to the Round of 16, after securing all three points in their first game.
The 'Blue Tigers' showcased an outstanding performance against the hosts, UAE in their second group stage fixture but failed to earn a single point from that game as unlucky India went 2-0 down to UAE. Plenty of chances were created by the Indians in that match but they could not manage to utilize a single.
Eight years back on this day on January 14, 2011, team India suffered a 5-2 defeat against Bahrain, in the AFC Asian Cup 2011.
Yesterday, the young guns of India got a perfect chance to retaliate the 2011 defeat, as well as a golden opportunity to create history - qualification into the Round of 16 from the group stage. But a mistake inside the box in the injury time of the second half was enough to break 1.3 billion Indian hearts. Again Bahrain edged India out 1-0, on January 14, 2019, at Sharjah.
India finished their AFC Asian Cup 2019 campaign with three points from their three group stage matches, securing the last spot in the Group - A.
But what are the major reasons behind this heartbreaking result? Let's have a look at those major three reasons why India messed up a golden opportunity to make the Round of 16.
#3 Overconfidence of playing for a draw against Bahrain
As the 'Blue Tigers' were the second place holder, right after the host nation UAE and Bahrain were at the bottom in the group, it seemed like Sunil Chhetri and boys wanted to make it just a draw against Bahrain to qualify to the Round of 16.
If India could make it at least 0-0 against Bahrain, India would have qualified to the next round as the second-best team from the group as in another group stage fixture, UAE and Thailand finished with the 1-1 result.
Team India even became able to hold Bahrain successfully until it was the 91st minute of the match.
Indian skipper Pronay Halder brought Hamed Alshamsan down inside the penalty box, conceding a late penalty which was enough to give Bahrain their crucial three points. Jamal Rashed hoaxed Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh to score the decisive goal for his side.
Like their previous match against UAE, if the Indians could have utilised those few opportunities they created in the first half, the storyline would have been different.
But yesterday, the strategy of Stephen Constantine went very wrong as it was not to go for the all-out attack.
The mentality of the players was to play a defensive football but the manager forgot the gospel truth, 'offence is the best defence' and the result turned out as a woe for the Indian team.
#2 There was no 'Plan - B'
India came on the pitch yesterday with a compact defence against Bahrain as the strategy of India coach was mainly to defend the sticks. Unlike their previous two matches against Thailand and UAE, India failed to browbeat Bahrain with their flashy counter-attacks.
Yesterday, only two men were up front, Sunil Chhetri and Ashique Kuruniyan (Jeje Lalpekhlua came on the pitch replacing Ashique in the second half) who failed to penetrate the opponent defence effectively.
On the other hand, in front of Bahrain's pressing football, team India's sturdy defence also appeared to be helpless in the last quarter of the second half as it felt like Sandesh Jhingan and the boys would not be able to withstand the pressure anymore.
Team India's only plan was to defend by any means which went very wrong. There were no such eye-catching counter-attacks, no build-up play up front and above all, there was no such hunger for scoring.
In front of Bahrain's relentless attack, the man who stood tall till the end was Sandesh Jhingan. He came on the pitch, he fought, he made his presence to be felt on the field, but unfortunately, he lost.
Where the Indian defenders were getting rudderless, he guarded his side just like a vigilant soldier.
This man just did not deserve to lose. If India could have come up with an attacking mindset in the second half, Sandesh Jhingan, as well as the 'Blue Tigers', could walk off the arena with their head high.
"We defended like warriors & the defeat is really hard to take. Disappointed seeing how it turned out but we can only go upwards from here. Proud of the boys and we thank the fans for their support" - Sandesh Jhingan.
#1 Poor strategy of playing long balls against physically tougher sides
Another strategy of team India that went wrong against Bahrain was to play long balls against the physically tougher sides.
Also in their previous match against UAE, the opponent defenders won most of the aerial balls over the Indian strikers.
Passing through balls towards Sunil or Udanta from the midfield was not much effective as it was easy for the stronger opponent to clear those threats.
The same story got repeated in yesterday's match against Bahrain where team India was trying to build their attack up based on the long-ball strategy. The height of the Indian strikers was not enough to win those long-balls over the six-feet tall Bahrainian defenders.
The strategy of building attacks up front by playing short passes among the players was missing yesterday and as a result, India failed to make it 0-0 in favour of them.
Moreover, the fully defensive strategy was not enough to secure a single point against Bahrain on Monday night as Bahrain's relentless attacking paid dividends. Jamal Rashed's late goal gave Bahrain the passport to the Round of 16 of the AFC Asian Cup 2019.
"Nobody expected us to do so well in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 and we showed that we belong here. However, football is a cruel game sometimes" - Sandesh Jhingan.
