The Blue Tigers have ultimately broken the 20 years long wait after a victory in Fifa World Cup Qualifiers.
On Monday, a thrilling match between the Indian Football Team against the Asian neighbors Bangladesh Football Team finished at 90 minutes with a scoreline of 2-0 with the help of 2 goals scored by Sunil Chhetri.
Both teams have previously encountered each other before the pandemic during a home game at VYBK Stadium, Kolkata, India. There was an unusual result in the last home game which was not in the favour of the blue tigers when the match finished with a draw.
Then an extended gap into football action arrived after the lethal Covid-19 pandemic has made the whole world to a halt as well as India. The domestic league, ISL was already halfway through but had to end immediately for every player’s & official’s safety. This lengthy break arrived with a sudden surprise and future probability about the restart as a different life began to sound real.
Slowly as time goes, Indian Football Team appeared on the pitch altogether for the remaining world cup qualifiers games after more than 500+ days of rest.
The effect of the pandemic on blue tigers was noticeable in a match with the lack of team communication and rhythm. On another side, lack of practice time and no gameplay time anywhere has struck every player’s performance.
The 1st game of the World Cup Qualifier after the pandemic was against the home side Qatar Football Team who almost played 15 games including the world’s best football teams. On another side, we are being an inexperienced side were expected to put a mark on away land in Qatar.
The match didn’t go in our favor with most time it was ruled by the Qatari side with a big gap in possession and one after another shot on the goal post. We created very less chances of attack and mostly defended very well by the wall Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Although at around 70 minutes, the Qatari side has successfully passed the hurdle and score their goal with an ending scoreline of 1-0.
After finishing one game, our blue tigers came out from the dugout all again with this time clear intention of winning against the Asian neighbor, Bangladesh.
The India-Bangladesh game has given Indian football fans a new hope that the team looks a taking a transition with a new style of football play.
The scorelines of the match were in our favor with 2-0 both goals scored by Sunil Chhetri. The more interesting thing is the Indian side has shown a passing game of around 82% possession, 720 total successful passes, 19 shots on goal. For a long time, football fans have awaited this type of playing style instead of a long-ball strategy.
The last game of the world cup qualifiers will be against the Afghanistan Football Team with whom our last result was drawn.
Although looks like Indian Team will most probably not qualify for the next round of world cup qualifiers. But these results will help us get a better spot for the upcoming Asian Cup.
