AFC Asian Cup 2023: India Midfield Report Card - Depleted Squad Strength Leaves Midfield Stuttering Against Higher-Ranked Opponents

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In the history of the competition, India qualified a total of 5 times. The AFC Asian Cup 2023 campaign was the worst run for them. They dropped out of the group stage after winning 0 games and scoring 0 goals.

All of their opponents in the group - Australia, Uzbekistan, and Syria were superior in terms of FIFA rankings, skills, and physicality. Even so, a lot was expected of the Indian football team that won two trophies last year.

Considering the results, it's easy to understand that nothing went their way. That includes the performance of their midfield, which tried but failed to link and successfully move the ball from the back of the field to the players in the final third.

Coach Igor Stimac travelled to Qatar without key midfielder Jeakson Singh due to a shoulder injury. Sahal Abdul Samad was crucially included in the squad and was seen as a major boost but the gifted midfielder could only participate in 25 minutes of football. Apart for him, The players that were selected for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 squad were Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Deepak Tangri, Apuia Ralte, Liston Colaco, Naorem Mahesh Singh, Suresh Singh Wangjam, and Udanta Singh

Everyone of them got more or less playing time throughout all the group matches. Deepak Tangri, Apuia Ralte, Naorem Mahesh Singh, and Suresh Singh Wangjam started regularly. Amid unfulfilled expectations, Apuia looked to be helping.

Tangri played alongside Ralte in the double pivot role. Tangri helped well in the defense, especially with his physicality. However, his efforts lacked while moving up the field. Naorem and Suresh were deployed in more advanced positions in the field to help more in attack.

However, even though they tried, with the opponents’ pace and physicality, they weren't able to produce a lot of good chances. Anirudh Thapa had been doing well for his club Mohun Bagan. However, even he couldn't produce something solid for the man up front.

Sahal Abdul Samad could've made some impact but he was injured and played a handful of minutes in India's last AFC Asian Cup 2023. Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, and Udanta Singh played too little amount of time to make big impacts.