Kings Cup: India 1-3 Curacao – 3 reasons why India lost

#1 Indian attacked lacked killer punch

Sahal Samad was impressive in his debut

It is a proven fact that India can play attacking football. They showed it multiple times. The most recent display was their first match in the Asian Cup against Thailand.

However, former coach Constantine always wanted to play safely and as a result, the team played in a defensive way in most of their matches.

It was thought Stimac would change the mindset but after the Curacao match, he has a lot of work to do. In the first half, India showed too much respect to their opponents and allowed them to dominate in their own half.

Sunil Chhetri, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Sahal Abdul Samad got one or two chances which they failed to make them count.

Two changes in the second half brought the game back in India’s favour. The introduction of Raynier Fernandes allowed Brandon Fernandes to operate from his familiar position. Also, Udanta Singh was more creative in the second half and threatened the Curacao defence quite a few times.

Sahal worked very hard on the midfield and it was him who earned the penalty in the first half. Two full-backs Subhasish Bose and Pritam also overlapped repeatedly and provided useful crosses.

However, India lacked the punch in the attacking that would’ve earned them a goal. Chhetri and Udana#ta got close a couple of time and the Indian captain even hit the post. Sadly, the scoreline remained the same.

Curacao players were visibly tired in the second half and that extra punch would’ve earned India at least one goal.