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The Indian football team suffered a 0-3 loss to Belarus in an international friendly played on Saturday at the Bahrain International Stadium, in Bahrain. This was their second game after the 1-2 loss against Bahrain earlier. Head Coach Igor Stimac made seven changes to the starting line-up which played against Bahrain three days back.
The Indian football team was also hit by injuries to Liston Colaco and Jeakson Singh, while Rahul Bheke was not available. The latter had flown back to join his club’s preparations for the forthcoming AFC Champions League matches.
The match started with India pressing hard against the Belarusians while the opposition enjoyed most of the possession. However, Roshan Singh, the Bengaluru FC wing-back, had the first try on goal. But his attempt went wide off the mark.
Belarus had their first chance on goal in the 7th minute. The side earned a free-kick just outside the box. Pavel Sedko stepped up to take it and chose to place it in the bottom corner. Indian skipper and custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who was playing his 50th international match, made sure that the ball didn't go past him.
A few minutes later, Manvir Singh had a chance to put his side in the lead. Anirudh Thapa played an aerial through ball to Manvir, spotting the forward's run. But the Belarusian defenders recovered faster nullifying the chance.
As the half progressed, Belarus' hold on the ball increased but the Indians defended well and maintained their compactness at the back. Belarus had two more opportunities in front of goal.
The first was a corner in the 41st minute while the second was a free-kick from the right flank. Neither of the two opportunities created any danger for the Indian football team.
Indian football team loses stability
The second half started with both sides making changes to the on-filed line-up. Igor Stimac introduced Mohammad Yasir in place of Seriton Fernandes.
Belarus attacked with intensity in the opening minutes of the second half. Uladzislau attacked from the left flank and whipped in the ball for Shauchenka Hleb. But Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was up to the task in this case.
Two minutes later, the Belarusians bagged their first goal of the night. A long ball from midfield was met by Artem Bykov, who managed to volley it past the Indian custodian.
The goal was followed by another change from the Indian football team bench. Aniket Jadhav was sent in to replace Suhair VP. The Belarusians kept getting chance after chance in and around the final third.
They scored the second goal after Max Ebong had the ball as a result of Roshan Singh losing it in midfield. Max ran through the middle before setting it up for Andrey Solovey to tap in.
Igor Stimac put Chinglensana Singh into the mix. Roshan Singh was sacrificed to for it.
The third and last goal came in the final minutes of the match after Valeri Gromyko was set up by Evgeni Yablonski while the entire defense stood ball watching. The result was disappointing for the Indian football team in both friendlies and the side failed to make an impression in any department.
