Yeah but weakest team of the Group will finish last in the Group. It is not about points. Best 4 third placed will progress means third place will progress.
What India learnt from their AFC Asian Cup sojourn
Make full use of international breaks
Supporters expected India to go through to the knockout round only due to their performances in the first two games. They put themselves in a position where they had a chance but the reality is that India are simply not competent at a continental level.
The Blue Tigers' use of international breaks in recent years has been poor. The senior team has played only eight games in 2018.
The team has to play two games in each international window and the matches should be against higher-ranked teams. Of the eight games in 2018, Kyrgyzstan (in Asian Cup qualification) and China (friendly) are the only teams who were above India in the FIFA Rankings.
“This squad is young and we have potential but we need to keep playing the big teams like China, UAE. We need to play more friendlies like this and improve," Jeje Lalpekhlua said after India's defeat to Bahrain.
Fitter but not fit enough!
India did not play for a draw. It only looked like they were playing for a draw and a lot of it is to do with the fitness levels of the Indian squad.
Before the match against Bahrain, Halicharan Narzary told Goal, "It is extremely difficult to play three matches in 10 days. We get a very short recovery time. All the teams are very good. So our task becomes even more difficult."
Playing three games in Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League and doing the same at the international level are different. The intensity and the fitness demands are greater when playing against Asia's best teams. The current Indian team is definitely the fittest bunch when compared to the past national team squads but they have their work cut out to match the rest of Asia.
It is not unusual for teams to look to preserve their narrow lead in the final moments of the game. Add mental and physical exhaustion to that and you have a team walking on a tight rope.
It was not Stephen Constantine's undoing as Sunil Chhetri reasoned after the game, "We weren't (going for a draw). It was in the back of the mind though. As the game went by, around 70-75 minutes,the thought was to keep it like that and so we defended deeper."
Possession-based game? Teach it to the kids first
India's mentality resulted in them being bogged down at the back, trying to tackle one Bahrain attack after the other. Why did they not try to keep the ball more?
Technique and skill on the ball are traits that are to be hardwired. Catch the talents young and you get a chance to embed a new footballing philosophy.
Appointing a Spanish/Brazilian coach won't bring about a change in style and better results. A possession-based game requires all players to be comfortable with the ball at their feet. There are technically skilled players who did not travel to UAE but India needs more such footballers. A goalkeeper who knows he does not need to kick it long at every instance, a defender who is confident enough to pick a pass, a midfielder who can calmly deal with a high press - where are they? If you need all of it to come together, you need to wait. It starts at the grassroots.
Stephen Constantine has done a commendable job with the talented players at his disposal. But there is potential for more and there is work to be done.
Asian Cup diaries: Double punched in the stomach at dinner time
Having watched the Indian men's hockey team lose their much-anticipated World Cup quarterfinal just a month ago in Bhubaneswar, the elimination against Bahrain after a late penalty in the Asian Cup was like being double punched in the stomach at dinner time.
The odds were stacked so well for India, that a friend and her husband actually chose not to come to Sharjah, because they were that sure that they would watch the team in their round of 16 game again in Dubai.
To be fair, objective journalists are not meant to feel for either side, and call the match exactly as they see it, and India were much poorer than Bahrain on the night. Nonetheless, India were better than what their bottom-placed finish reflects in Group A, and will now watch teams with poorer goals difference (and maybe even fewer points) go through from other groups to make up the round of 16.
What the Asian Cup will miss most is the buzz around the Indian team. Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Stadium both filled to capacity for the first time in their history in successive games, outgoing coach Stephen Constantine had to field questions comparing Sunil Chhetri with Lionel Messi -- as did the Indian striker himself -- and generally the football community took notice of India.
Hopefully, some of the Indian players would have caught the attention of scouts, and those in their early 20s could have a shout at making a career in a more competitive league abroad.
**
This has truly been an amazing tournament in most aspects, and everybody appreciated the compactness of the eight venues, spread across four cities. The longest stretch was perhaps between Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, but even on a bad day of traffic, that wasn't more than a three-hour drive.
Qatar has been keen on advertising its 2022 World Cup on these lines, and if some of the matches are spread around other Gulf nations as is being suggested, it could make for an interesting fan experience. The evenings are nippy and even 3 pm kickoffs didn't see temperatures in excess of 28 degrees. A handy tip, always carry a jumper for the evenings.
The workforce and staff working across all arenas are helpful, smart and young. The gender parity is a beautiful thing to see, in fact I came across more women than men among the marshals and volunteers. They usually did their work with a smile, and sometimes a bit of confusion over why an Indian journalist was listed in some documents to be from an organisation in U.S.
**
The Asian Cup is the football tragics' World Cup, and an event like this always brings with it little connections and friendships, that hopefully last longer than the duration of the event.
There's Australian freelancer Scott, who jokes that we've all taken it upon ourselves to provide the organisers with feedback about catering at every venue (blatantly false -- I can promise I have only eaten at six of them, and sometimes the intake has been limited to black coffee and butter croissants). There is Koji, a Japanese video-journalist who is just as shocked with India's exit as perhaps the players themselves, and offers Indian journalists an open invitation to visit him when Japan hosts the rugby World Cup later this year.
There were numerous cab drivers who provided great conversations -- the young man from Khyber-Pakhtunwa who is an ardent admirer of prime minister and former World Cup winner Imran Khan --"Yaqeen karo, Imran humaara jaan hai (Believe me, I love Imran)" -- Bam Bahadur from Nepal, who reassured me ahead of the Bahrain clash that the entire subcontinent's wishes were with India, or the Ethiopian gentleman who just wouldn't believe that Yemen falls inside Asia!
Then there's Faizan, a muscular, poker-faced Pathan who has the unenviable task of making round trips with the inter-city media shuttle, a slow-moving 32-seater, from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, Al Ain and Dubai (sometimes a combination of the two). Faizan was often grumpy because he has had numerous trips without a single passenger on-board, but then when you made him realise that's the nature of the job, he would make peace with it. We even shared fried chicken and fries over the ride last night. "Afridi bhai ke gaadi mein aap kha sakte hain, lekin giraana nahin (You can eat in my vehicle, but please don't drop anything)".
**
The best, almost-unspoken kinship was with security guards at practice sessions, where journalists were allowed in for 15 minutes only. For these interviews and often futile chases, we made it to some pretty outlandish locations -- UAE kept theirs in a university campus where finding the football field was akin to reaching the final level of a role-playing video game (the 15 minutes were about to lapse by the time we reached, see?) -- and the last word would come when the security guard locked eyes with you, flash an apologetic smile and say,
Comments
people understand those statistics and rules, but they have hearts too and sometimes it takes over the brain
What India learnt from their AFC Asian Cup sojourn
Make full use of international breaks
Supporters expected India to go through to the knockout round only due to their performances in the first two games. They put themselves in a position where they had a chance but the reality is that India are simply not competent at a continental level.
The Blue Tigers' use of international breaks in recent years has been poor. The senior team has played only eight games in 2018.
The team has to play two games in each international window and the matches should be against higher-ranked teams. Of the eight games in 2018, Kyrgyzstan (in Asian Cup qualification) and China (friendly) are the only teams who were above India in the FIFA Rankings.
“This squad is young and we have potential but we need to keep playing the big teams like China, UAE. We need to play more friendlies like this and improve," Jeje Lalpekhlua said after India's defeat to Bahrain.
Fitter but not fit enough!
India did not play for a draw. It only looked like they were playing for a draw and a lot of it is to do with the fitness levels of the Indian squad.
Before the match against Bahrain, Halicharan Narzary told Goal, "It is extremely difficult to play three matches in 10 days. We get a very short recovery time. All the teams are very good. So our task becomes even more difficult."
Playing three games in Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League and doing the same at the international level are different. The intensity and the fitness demands are greater when playing against Asia's best teams. The current Indian team is definitely the fittest bunch when compared to the past national team squads but they have their work cut out to match the rest of Asia.
It is not unusual for teams to look to preserve their narrow lead in the final moments of the game. Add mental and physical exhaustion to that and you have a team walking on a tight rope.
It was not Stephen Constantine's undoing as Sunil Chhetri reasoned after the game, "We weren't (going for a draw). It was in the back of the mind though. As the game went by, around 70-75 minutes,the thought was to keep it like that and so we defended deeper."
Possession-based game? Teach it to the kids first
India's mentality resulted in them being bogged down at the back, trying to tackle one Bahrain attack after the other. Why did they not try to keep the ball more?
Technique and skill on the ball are traits that are to be hardwired. Catch the talents young and you get a chance to embed a new footballing philosophy.
Appointing a Spanish/Brazilian coach won't bring about a change in style and better results. A possession-based game requires all players to be comfortable with the ball at their feet. There are technically skilled players who did not travel to UAE but India needs more such footballers. A goalkeeper who knows he does not need to kick it long at every instance, a defender who is confident enough to pick a pass, a midfielder who can calmly deal with a high press - where are they? If you need all of it to come together, you need to wait. It starts at the grassroots.
Stephen Constantine has done a commendable job with the talented players at his disposal. But there is potential for more and there is work to be done.
Asian Cup diaries: Double punched in the stomach at dinner time
Having watched the Indian men's hockey team lose their much-anticipated World Cup quarterfinal just a month ago in Bhubaneswar, the elimination against Bahrain after a late penalty in the Asian Cup was like being double punched in the stomach at dinner time.
The odds were stacked so well for India, that a friend and her husband actually chose not to come to Sharjah, because they were that sure that they would watch the team in their round of 16 game again in Dubai.
What the Asian Cup will miss most is the buzz around the Indian team. Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Stadium both filled to capacity for the first time in their history in successive games, outgoing coach Stephen Constantine had to field questions comparing Sunil Chhetri with Lionel Messi -- as did the Indian striker himself -- and generally the football community took notice of India.
Hopefully, some of the Indian players would have caught the attention of scouts, and those in their early 20s could have a shout at making a career in a more competitive league abroad.
**
This has truly been an amazing tournament in most aspects, and everybody appreciated the compactness of the eight venues, spread across four cities. The longest stretch was perhaps between Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, but even on a bad day of traffic, that wasn't more than a three-hour drive.
Qatar has been keen on advertising its 2022 World Cup on these lines, and if some of the matches are spread around other Gulf nations as is being suggested, it could make for an interesting fan experience. The evenings are nippy and even 3 pm kickoffs didn't see temperatures in excess of 28 degrees. A handy tip, always carry a jumper for the evenings.
The workforce and staff working across all arenas are helpful, smart and young. The gender parity is a beautiful thing to see, in fact I came across more women than men among the marshals and volunteers. They usually did their work with a smile, and sometimes a bit of confusion over why an Indian journalist was listed in some documents to be from an organisation in U.S.
**
There's Australian freelancer Scott, who jokes that we've all taken it upon ourselves to provide the organisers with feedback about catering at every venue (blatantly false -- I can promise I have only eaten at six of them, and sometimes the intake has been limited to black coffee and butter croissants). There is Koji, a Japanese video-journalist who is just as shocked with India's exit as perhaps the players themselves, and offers Indian journalists an open invitation to visit him when Japan hosts the rugby World Cup later this year.
There were numerous cab drivers who provided great conversations -- the young man from Khyber-Pakhtunwa who is an ardent admirer of prime minister and former World Cup winner Imran Khan --"Yaqeen karo, Imran humaara jaan hai (Believe me, I love Imran)" -- Bam Bahadur from Nepal, who reassured me ahead of the Bahrain clash that the entire subcontinent's wishes were with India, or the Ethiopian gentleman who just wouldn't believe that Yemen falls inside Asia!
Then there's Faizan, a muscular, poker-faced Pathan who has the unenviable task of making round trips with the inter-city media shuttle, a slow-moving 32-seater, from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, Al Ain and Dubai (sometimes a combination of the two). Faizan was often grumpy because he has had numerous trips without a single passenger on-board, but then when you made him realise that's the nature of the job, he would make peace with it. We even shared fried chicken and fries over the ride last night. "Afridi bhai ke gaadi mein aap kha sakte hain, lekin giraana nahin (You can eat in my vehicle, but please don't drop anything)".
**
The best, almost-unspoken kinship was with security guards at practice sessions, where journalists were allowed in for 15 minutes only. For these interviews and often futile chases, we made it to some pretty outlandish locations -- UAE kept theirs in a university campus where finding the football field was akin to reaching the final level of a role-playing video game (the 15 minutes were about to lapse by the time we reached, see?) -- and the last word would come when the security guard locked eyes with you, flash an apologetic smile and say,
"Khallas."
Over.