Asian Games Football Tournament Preview: India U-23 vs Jordan U-23

Venue: Incheon Munhak Stadium, South Korea

Kickoff: Monday, September 22 2014, 13:30 IST

Mission Impossible

India U-23 would be looking to restore some pride

There weren’t any high expectations from the India U-23 men’s football team at the 2014 Asian Games but some fans back home were hopeful that the players will put up a fight and respond to the criticism of SAI (Sports Authority of India). But Wim Koevermans’ side didn’t provide any resistance at all and suffered the country’s heaviest defeat in the group stage of the Asian Games since 1978. The defending was abysmal, there were hardly any meaningful attacks and they never really threatened to get even a consolation. Opponents UAE were perhaps a little generous as they dropped their tempo and didn’t intend to humiliate India or else the margin of defeat could have easily been more than five. It was simply another dark day for Indian football and barring a major turnaround in performance, another humiliation is expected against Jordan.

Perhaps the India team would have liked to have played this game against Jordan much earlier and returned home by now because the seven-day gap between the two fixtures only delays the inevitable early exit. Mathematically India might still go through to the round of 16 if they beat Jordan by three or more goals. But that is simply wishful thinking and with Jordan having beaten UAE already, the only real question is by how many they will win against India. The Indian team were not even getting the basics right and the blame should be shared by each and every player and coaching staff. They would be desperate to restore some pride and unless they manage that to do that, it is unlikely that SAI and the government will take any initiative of sending the men’s football team for the next edition of the Asian Games.

India’s likely XI: Amrinder Singh, Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Shankar Sampingiraj, Narayan Das, Francis Fernandes, Pronay Halder, Lalrindika Ralte, Semilen Doungel, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh

Eyeing top spot

Jordan (in white) defeated medal prospects UAE in their opener

Jordan have been eliminated from the group stage in the last two editions of the Asian Games but barring a miracle, they should be able to make the knockouts this time. In fact, they could even progress as group winners because the win over medal-prospects UAE last Thursday means that they only need a draw against minnows India to get top spot. Their senior national team has been on the rise in recent years as they reached as far as the inter-continental playoff of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. The next generation also seems to have a bright future and will be looking to build on that victory against UAE by going really far in this tournament.

Their preparations were actually worse than that of India as their domestic clubs refused to release players initially so they had to start training only in September. Jordan played a few friendlies against local clubs but their potential was evident when they beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in a warm-up game. India’s showing against UAE will give Jordan further confidence of having an easy win in this game but they must guard complacency and maintain a professional attitude. Coach Abu Abed Jamal Ahmad couldn’t have wished for a better start to their Asian Games campaign and now would be demanding his players to be ruthless against India.

Jordan’s likely XI: Mohammed Abu Nabhan, Omar Manasrah, Mohannad Khair, Amer Abu Hdeib, Ehsan Haddad, Fadi Awad, Ahmad Al-Essawi, Laith Al-Bishtawi, Ahmad Israiwah, Yazan Thalji, Sameer Suleiman

Best performance at Asian Games

India: Gold Medal (1951, 1962)

Jordan: Group Stage (2006, 2010)

Performance at last edition

India: Round of 16

Jordan: Group Stage exit