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India sealed the third place in tje King’s Cup Invitational tournament by beating hosts Thailand 1-0 in Buriram on Saturday. Anirudh Thapa scored the only goal of the match in the 17th minute.
This is India’s first win under new coach Igor Stimac and the Croatian would surely be happy with the performance of the plauers.
Stimac changed most of the players of his starting line-up in order to give every member of the sqiad a chance. The players put up a good performance to prove that the AFC Asian Cup win against Thailand was no fluke.
The hosts played better football than their Indian counterparts and enjoyed laudable home support. But it was not enough for the Sirisak Yodyardthai-coached side who missed a few golden opportunities.
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Let us discuss the talking points of the match:
#5 Second string Indian side lives up their reputation
Before the tournament, new Indian coach Igor Stimac made one thing clear - he would not concentrate on the results. Rather, he would like to give all the players a chance.
The Croatian coach did exactly that by fielding a second-string in this game, a team that had no Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Udanta Singh, India’s best players.
The first change came from the first line of defence. Gurpreet was replaced by Mumbai City custodian Amrinder Singh, who made a couple of good saves throughout the match to earn a much-deserved clean sheet.
Adil Khan, donning national colours after seven years, was brought in to the heart of defence beside Sandesh Jhingan, who wore the captain’s armband. As a result, Rahul Bheke was pushed to his favourite position, right-back.
Delhi Dynamos midfielder Vinit Rai was introduced just ahead of the defence. Anirudh Thapa replaced Sahal Abdul Samad at the heart of the midfield and was arguably the best Indian player on the pitch.
Farukh Choudhary took the place of Udanta and Balwant Singh was deployed as the lone striker.
Despite playing with a second string side, all the players tried to make their performance count.
#4 Adil marks his comeback with commanding performance
Since Anas Edathodika hung up his boots, the big question was, who would fill his place as a central defender. Stimac tried to play Rahul Bheke in that position against Curacao but it was a big flop.
As a result, experienced defender Adil Khan was given the responsibility to partner Sandesh Jhinghan at the heart of the defence. Honestly, playing for India after seven years, Adil’s performance was beyond imagination.
He not only guarded the defence with his brilliant technique, the only goal of the match came from his pass. He has a good physique, which he used perfectly to keep the Thailand attackers at bay.
He blocked countless shots, headed away dangerous crosses, put himself on the line of the ball, took perfect positions while defending set-pieces. In all, he did what he was expected to do. Jhinghan also got back his rhythm after finding an able partner in Adil.
However, Bheke, who performed brilliantly in the right-back position for Bengaluru FC, was caught off-guard repeatedly by Thailand wingers. He couldn’t match with the speed of the players and made no useful crosses during the match.
But even the best players can have off days. There is no doubt that Bheke would learn quickly from his mistakes.
#3 Thapa puts up an exceptional performance
Even though Chennaiyin FC finished in the bottom of the Indian Super League, their coach John Gregory was effusive in his praise to Anirudh Thapa and marked him as a future star of Indian football. The world caught a glimpse of his talent in the AFC Asian Cup.
Thapa started from where he left in the ISL. From the very first minute, he was commanding in the midfield and provided regular passes to the attackers. His goal was the difference between the two teams.
The Uttarakhand-born midfielder used his brilliant mind and followed the ball after Raynier Fernandes took an innocuous free-kick. When Adil made the cross, no one was marking Thapa on the right side. The Chennaiyin FC midfielder coolly slotted the ball home.
It was his second goal in India colours. The first one came in January at the Asian Cup against the same opponents.
Not once but twicem he saved his team from conceding a goal. After he had put India in the lead, Thapa denied Thailand a definite goal, with a stunning block on the line. In the second half, he cleared a dangerous header from an unmarked Thailand player off the line as well.
#2 Thailand dominated the game but missed too many chances
Taking the field amid raucous support, Thailand always had an upper hand coming into this match. They also had revenge on their mind after getting thrashed by India at the Asian Cup.
There is no doubt that the Thais dominated the match, played some superb passes, created chances and forced India to commit mistakes. But they failed to make it count thanks to some basic mistakes by the home players.
Supachai Chaided was expected to take goal scoring responsibility but the youngster failed to make his presence count. Throughout the match, he was kept in check by Sandesh Jhingan.
The best Thai player on the field was definitely Supachok Sarachat. Coming in as a substitute midway in the first half, Supachok took all the pressure on himself. He made the runs, put those darting crosses and occasionally took the shot. But nothing could beat the Indian defence.
#1 India need a solid striker in Chhetri’s absence
India captain Sunil Chhetri was rested by Stimac and Balwant Singh took his place. Balwant, who didn’t have a fruitful season with ATK, has surely left his best years behind him. He is now only a pale shadow of himself and doesn’t fit in this Indian team which promotes exuberance.
Before he was replaced in the second half, Balwant made only few touches and didn’t do anything that would help him retain his place in the team. His replacement Manvir Singh was much more lively on the field.
Balwant could’ve scored India’s second goal in the first half had Farukh not made a basic mistake, when he got the weight of his pass wrong. Farukh got a long ball from the Indian defence and he only had goalkeeper to beat. However, he suddenly slowed down and tried to pass it to Balwant who was running parallel on the right side. The pass was too casual and easily intercepted by a Thailand defender.
Former coach Stephen Constantine played Ashique Kuruniyan as a striker in the Asian Cup and it was a success. There is Jeje Lalpekhlua. But both of them are injured right now.
Stimac perhaps made a mistake by releasing Jobby Justin who is adept to this kind situation. His positioning, technique and quick responses would’ve made him a better choice.
