Eighty-second minute. India bookended this qualification cycle with goals at that time and a campaign that could have had three wins in eight games ended with one victory, four draws and three losses. In a pre-pandemic world and with the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati throbbing in anticipation, India, leading by Sunil Chhetri’s goal against Oman, took in the first of the two goals from Al Mandar Al Alawi that September night in 2019 in the 82nd. Nearly two years later, they ended the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup cycle in Doha with Afghanistan netting an equaliser at the same time.
Even if India hadn’t drawn Tuesday’s game 1-1, they would have ended third in group E which was topped by Qatar with 22 points with Oman seven points behind in second place. India ended on five points but two more wins would have cemented Igor Stimac’s standing as the coach who gave young players a chance as he got India to play a different way. As it turned out, Chhetri was right in his evaluation: India had blown hot and cold through this campaign. Finishing third means India will avoid a play-off game when the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers resume in September.
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Five of India’s nine corner-kicks had come by the 23rd minute, one of them because Glan Martins had stolen the ball and found Chhetri, whose shot was blocked. On the right, Manvir Singh and Suresh Wangjam were reading each other’s minds like they were twins. On the left, rewarded with a start following his swerving assist against Bangladesh and allowed to start further up the pitch as Stimac played a back four, Ashique Kuruniyan was having a busy evening. India had not looked this comfortable under Stimac as they did at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. About the only thing that jarred was Stimac being booked for taking out his anger on a water bottle.
{{/usCountry}}Five of India’s nine corner-kicks had come by the 23rd minute, one of them because Glan Martins had stolen the ball and found Chhetri, whose shot was blocked. On the right, Manvir Singh and Suresh Wangjam were reading each other’s minds like they were twins. On the left, rewarded with a start following his swerving assist against Bangladesh and allowed to start further up the pitch as Stimac played a back four, Ashique Kuruniyan was having a busy evening. India had not looked this comfortable under Stimac as they did at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. About the only thing that jarred was Stimac being booked for taking out his anger on a water bottle.
{{/usCountry}}By the 15th minute, Afghanistan were leaving only Omid Popalzay, who plays in the Polish third division, in India’s half. They were somewhat hamstrung by skipper Farshad Noor being injured; the Persib Bandung midfielder in Indonesia’s top tier having hurt his knee following a clash with Martins in the 30th. India were patient in their build-up but as Afghanistan dropped deep, they needed someone to run between the lines or get Brandon Fernandes to play a raking pass. The second happened in the 23rd and again Chhetri was denied at the expense of a corner-kick.
Having contained India — for all their domination, goalie Ovays Azizi wasn’t tested – Afghanistan did threaten on the break. Chinglensana Singh was booked for a body-checking Popalzay and Rahul Bheke, back after a one-game ban following his early red card against Qatar, was lucky to not have been booked for kick on Noor Husin. But India ended the half with Suresh making a strong run and then not making the right decision. He tried to find Singh who was running in when Chhetri was better placed and failed to reach either.
Kuruniyan too didn’t make the right decision when he had Chhetri and Singh on either side early in the second half, holding on too long to invite a foul that wasn’t given. Early in the game, he had been alert to Zohib Amiri’s failed attempt to slide in and chest the ball out but having taken possession and cut in, Kuruniyan couldn’t find Chhetri or Singh amid a thicket of white shirts.
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Stimac sacrificed Chhetri and Fernandes’ clinical abilities for fresh legs. Lalengmawia was thrown in for Fernandes and Liston Colaco for the India captain. Singh was moved to the centre and could have been shown the red card had his swinging an arm at Amiri was spotted. Before Singh could settle in as centre-forward, India were ahead though it had little contribution from anyone in a blue shirt. Azizi looked to have Kuruniyan’s 75th minute delivery under control but the ball bounced and rolled in. Stimac took out Kuruniyan, who had run all evening, for Bipin Singh and India tried to close out the game, they switched off at the back.
Failing to clear his lines, Bheke lost the ball to Husin who cut in and found substitute Hossein Zamani. The 18-year-Zamani, who has trained at Ajax and plays in the Dutch second division, curled his right-footer past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Not threatened all night, Sandhu had no chance here. Having started all of India’s games in Qatar, having chewed up ground all evening and stolen possession, Martins was a milisecond late in getting a leg in. It made the difference between a second successive win, after having gone 11 games without one, and another draw. On the balance of numbers — 52% possession for India, 10 shots to Afghanistan’s seven and two saves by each goalkeeper — though it looked a fair result. Head buried in his hands, Chhetri though thought otherwise.