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Year-ender: Sunil Chhetri & Co consolidate position in Asia

The Indian national football team top their Asian Cup qualifying group and are unbeaten in 13 games. Mykhel looks at the year that was for Sunil Chhetri & Co

By Aravind
India captain Sunil Chhetri acknowledges the crowd after the Asian Cup qualifier against Macao in Bengaluru (Image courtesy: AIFF Media)

Bengaluru, December 18: The month of October this year was the best that India has ever had in football. A couple of youngsters impressed the entire world when they stood tall against some giants in the footballing world when they played the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. But let's not forget what their seniors achieved on October 10 on a chilly evening in Bengaluru - the Indian national team defeated Macau 4-1 and booked their berth for the 2019 Asian Cup with two qualifying matches to spare.

Although October will be remembered as the month that India, who missed out on the 2015 event, qualified for the 2019 edition, that confirmation wouldn't have been possible without the impressive performances home and away in a group that had the likes of Myanmar, Macau and Kyrgyzstan. That apart, from a lowly No 175 in the FIFA rankings, India breached the top 100. Having risen to No 96 in July, India are now placed No 105 as per the latest FIFA rankings.

India's Jeje Lalpekhlua (right) in action against Myanmar (Image courtesy: AIFF Media)

What's the big deal?

Their confirmation for the 2019 event in the UAE comes off as a saving grace to a horrendous World Cup qualifying campaign, where they finished last in a group which featured Guam, a small island in the north Pacific Ocean with a population of 170,000.

"The result against Guam is something which I will not forget for a number of reasons," national team coach Stephen Constantine told the AIFF. "The complete disrespect which most people showed for Guam affected the team. We were way too confident and casual in our approach and we cannot allow this to happen again. I will not allow myself and players to be complacent again and fall into the trap."

India had to then win a play-off to enter the qualifying group for the Asian Cup. They defeated Laos 0-1 and 6-1 over the two legs in convincing fashion and since then, are on a 13-game unbeaten streak internationally.

13 games unbeaten

Their last loss stretches way back to March 2016, a 1-2 defeat to Turkmenistan. Myanmar came closest to ending India's streak in November, but India equalised twice to hold them 2-2. This year alone, they have recorded seven wins and two draws on their way to topping the Asian Cup qualifying group with four wins and a point.

Chhetri still leads the way

Captain Sunil Chhetri, goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, strikers Jeje Lalpekhlua and Balwant Singh and midfielder Rowllin Borges have been the standout performers in coach Stephen Constantine's team.

Robin Singh (left) of India celebrates with teammate Jackichand Singh after scoring against Mauritius in the Champions Cup (Image courtesy: AIFF Media)

With five goals, Chhetri leads the goalscoring charts for India. Jeje has four and Balwant, despite his limited chances in the Starting XI, has struck three. Borges has taken over the role of a playmaker from Eugeneson Lyngdoh, while Gurpreet has stamped his authority as the No 1 goalkeeper in the country.

Young blood

Constantine continued his policy of handing debuts to many youngsters, and also showed faith in the ones that are developing in the senior team. This year, two 19-year-olds - Anirudh Thapa and Jerry Lalrinzuala, made their senior team debuts.

That apart, defender Nishu Kumar (20) and strikers Udanta Singh (21) and Daniel Lalhlimpuia (20) have established themselves among the 18-man squad. Manvir Singh (22) and Nikhil Poojary (22) are also in the reckoning for the country.

"Looking back on our recent results, we are actually 18 games unbeaten out of our last 20 games (we have won 18 games out of our last 20)," Constantine wrote on his blog. "We have introduced some 36 new players into the national team (since 2015) and with a very decent group of U23s knocking on the door, it has been a very productive couple of years. The league in India is continuing to improve and we will hopefully continue to get better."

Sunil Chhetri with India coach Stephen Constantine

There is, however, some sort of unrest within the team. October was also marred with reports that a couple of the senior players in the team want Constantine to be sacked. They alleged that he's not good enough technically to coach the team for the Asian Cup.

The All India Football Federation, however, stepped in and assured soon after they will not entertain any suggestion asking for Constantine to be sacked. That rests the issue for now.

What to look forward to?

India play their last Asian Cup qualifier away at Kyrgyzstan on March 27, 2018. Although the game doesn't mean much in terms of qualification, India's unbeaten record will be put through a difficult test in front of the scary home supporters of the Kyrgz Republic.

With other top international teams busy with the 2018 World Cup in Russia, India will only play a couple of friendlies next year. They also stand a good chance in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta as many other top countries will reserve their main squad members in Russia. This event will kick off in August 2018.

2019 is really when India's position in the continent will be tested.

Results in 2017

Cambodia 2-3 India (Friendly)

Myanmar 0-1 India (Asian Cup qualifer)

India 2-0 Nepal (Friendly)

India 1-0 Kyrgyzstan (Asian Cup qualifier)

India 2-1 Mauritius (Champions Cup)

India 1-1 St Kitt's (Champions Cup)

Macau 0-2 India (Asian Cup qualifier)

India 4-1 Macau (Asian Cup qualifier)

India 2-2 Myanmar (Asian Cup qualifier)

Story first published: Monday, December 18, 2017, 16:29 [IST]
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