India played Oman on 06-09-2019 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati. Sunil Chhetri put India up in front after 24 minutes through a Brandon Fernandes free-kick from the edge of the box. This is a video of the goal taken by a fan :- India dominated the first half and went in to the break with a 1-0 lead. Then, after minutes of literally nothing, the Indian defence broke down as Al Alawi scored two goals in the 82nd and 90th minutes, handing Oman the win. Neither team deserved to win but Oman have 3 points now and are on top of the group along with Qatar who smashed 6 past a hapless Afghanistan. India next play Qatar away. PLAYER RATINGS :- 1. GURPREET SINGH SANDHU - 8.0 (GK) Gurpreet was fantastic in goal against Oman. He saved a header from point blank range. His reflexes were top class. He could not do much to not concede. His reflexes were on spot. Gurpreet gets an 8 from our side. 2. RAHUL BHEKE - 6.5 (RB) Rahul Bheke, India
SCORE -
MATCH OVERVIEW
The match got off to a sloppy start. The Indians were keen on keeping the ball at their feet. But, India was used to playing without the ball so, a lot of miss passes were committed. India started with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Chetri up front. They often shifted to a 3-5-2 with Pranoy Halder dropping in between Bheke and Jhingan and Bose and Kotal were pushing up while Sahal joined Chetri up front. The good part was that India was maintaining a certain structure and this will only lead to betterment in the future.
Curacao exploited the space between India's midfield and defensive lines and scored a beautiful opening goal through Bonevacia. India went down for a while. They became lazy in the transition from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-5-2 which created a huge gap between the center backs Jhingan and Bheke. Curacao brutally punished India for this laziness using Elson Hooi's pace as he went round the keeper and finished.
Brandon had sprayed a brilliant long pass for Sahal, whose cross asked too much for Chhangte. They played well though. It was a challenge on Sahal by a Curacao defender which was labelled to be a penalty by the referee. It was a controversial decision. Sunil Chetri slotted it home past Eloy Room who went the right way. In the happiness of scoring, the Indian team was immersed as they let Leandro Bacuna dribble through their midfield and then fire a brilliant shot past Gurpreet.
In the second half, it was even-steven as none of the sides scored but both teams showed their class in midfield. India impressed more than Curacao did but at the end of the day, they were no match for their physicality and superior technical ability.
STAR PLAYERS
Starting with Curacao. Captain Cuco Martina and fellow defender Darryl Lachman played brilliantly well as they did not let the Indian forwards a sniff at goal. Bonevacia and Bacuna were the anchors in midfield and they hogged the limelight. Hooi was a menace with his lightning pace.
For India, the defense had a poor game by their standards. Brandon Fernandes stood out in midfield. Sahal played really well. Chhangte and Udanta did not do much. Raynier, Soosairaj and Amarjit played really well in the limited time they got.
NEXT MATCH
Kings Cup Final -
Vietnam V/S Curacao
3rd place playoff -
India V/S Thailand
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