India U-23 0-2 Pakistan U-23 – Five talking points

Wim’s lowest point

This home loss to Pakistan U-23 is possibly the lowest point of Wim’s tenure in India

The Dutchman’s tenure as India coach has seen more lows than highs but Wednesday’s defeat was possibly the lowest point. Statistically his record as India coach is similar to that of Englishman Bob Houghton but under him India has been losing to nations that they didn’t use to in the past. Koevermans couldn’t even take India to the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup after the loss to Myanmar last year while India got completely outplayed by lower-ranked Nepal in the SAFF Championship and could only draw with Bangladesh in two meetings. They have lost their supremacy in the sub-continent to Afghanistan and although that is also a sign of an improvement from other nations in the region, the biggest disappointment in his reign since July 2012 is that the national team hasn’t moved forward.

The standard of the U-23 side is even worse so it is difficult to expect better results but Koevermans can be questioned for some of his selections like not picking enough wide midfielders meant he played central midfielder Clifton Dias on the left flank in the second half. The AIFF have tried their best to help in the preparations although the football team are not medal prospects but the coach just hasn’t produced the results and barring a miracle, the team will make an early exit from next month’s Asian Games.