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Another resilient showing from the Indian men's national team ultimately went in vain as Uzbekistan walked away with a 0-3 victory in the Round 2 of Group B AFC Asian Cup 2023 on Thursday, January 18.
The Blue Tigers were left trailing by three goals at the end of the first half after a clumsy start. Despite their steady showing in the second-half performance, Igor Stimac's men slumped to their second consecutive defeat in the tournament.
Sunil Chhetri and co. had suffered a heartbreaking loss to heavyweights Australia in their opener.
After the Round 2 fixtures, Group B has started taking its expected shape, with the Socceroos leading the pack with six points from their two fixtures. Uzbekistan, thanks to their draw against Syria and the victory over India, are placed in the second spot.
The Eagles of Qasioun have just a single point on the board while the Blue Tigers are yet to open their account. In the final round of fixtures, Australia and Uzbekistan will lock horns while Syria will square off against India.
The top two teams in each group and the four best-ranked third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16. Meanwhile, the bottom teams and the two worst-ranked third-placed teams in each group will be eliminated from the tournament.
On that note, let’s answer the all important question - can India still qualify for the knockout stages of the AFC Asian Cup 2023?
Victory against Syria pivotal for India to keep their AFC Asian Cup 2023 knockout hopes alive
Igor Stimac-led India will have to edge past Syria in their final group-stage clash to have any hopes of securing a pathway into the Round of 16. The Blue Tigers have no possibility of finishing anywhere above the third spot, so they can only qualify as one of the four best-ranked third-placed teams.
In Group A, both Tajikistan and Lebanon have a point each, while second-placed China have two points. India will have to hope for either Tajikistan and Lebanon to hold off each other in their final round or for China to be bested by hosts Qatar. Then the eventual third-placed side in the group will have a point less than the Blue Tigers, in case they manage the full three points against Syria.
Meanwhile, in Group C, Palestine have a point to their name, while Hong Kong are yet to start scoring. Once again, a draw will be the ideal result for India.
In Group D, both the second-placed and third-placed teams have three points each. Edging them out on goal difference will be mammoth task for Stimac's men, who have conceded five goals without reply in the tournament.
Bahrain edged Malaysia by a goal on Saturday, giving their first three points of the tournament. That has made the Group E results largely inconsequential for India as once again the teams here have a superior goal difference, which is unlikely to be overturned.
Finally, the second round of matches is yet to be played for Group F and as things stand, Thailand and Saudi Arabia have three points each. The two bottom-placed teams - Oman and Kyrgyz Republic - will play the group leaders in Round 2, before locking horns against each other. Ideally, India would hope for Thailand and Saudi Arabia to nab points off the bottom-placed sides and then hope for Oman and Kyrgyz Republic to play out a draw in their Round 3 clash.
It's still not an impossible task for India to grab a berth in the knockout stages as they need to just edge out two of the third-placed teams, in terms of points or goal difference.
