King's Cup 2019 Review

India’s first tournament under new coach Igor Stimac, King’s Cup 2019 is over. India have finished 3^rd in the tournament consisting of 4 teams. All of India’s opponents were in better form leading up to the tournament. India played two matches, losing and winning one each. Here is a brief overview of how the games went.

India faced the Caribbean nation Curacao in the semi-finals. Curacao were physically and technically much better than India. It was India’s first match under Igor Stimac. A change for the good was seen. India tried to keep the ball. They did not “park the bus”. This style was much more effective and was much better to watch. This was their first game under this new style. A few mistakes here and there and Curacao punished India badly. They put three past Gurpreet. Sunil Chhetri was the lone Indian to score, and that too from a spot kick. The North Americans ran out 3-1 winners.

Next, India faced the host nation Thailand in the 3^rd place playoff. India had upped the ante. They had a different tempo. They were playing brilliantly with the ball in their feet. Their passing was accurate. As Thailand are not as physical as Curacao, India did well. They took the lead through Anirudh Thapa’s brilliant finish. India kept it simple, no tricks and skills, just passing the ball to the man who had the least marking at that time. They resisted Thailand’s press. Adil Khan was fantastic. Rahul Bheke showed what he was capable of. Anirudh Thapa and Raynier showed why they were selected. India won the match by the solitary goal.

PLAYERS WHO IMPRESSED: -

Most of the players who got an opportunity impressed. The likes of Brandon Fernandes, Sahal Abdul Samad and Udanta Singh stamped their class. Two players surprised us with their performances.

· One was Raynier. He came on as a substitute in the game against Curacao and started in the match against Thailand. He took control of the ball as if it were his property. He sprayed a lot of passes across the pitch. He impressed defensively too. For all the time he was on the pitch, India did not concede.

· Next is Amarjit Singh, the captain of India’s first ever World Cup squad (FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017). Amarjit was a calming presence in the midfield for the Blues. His passing was accurate. He was the complete package with good forward passes. He even tracked back when the opponents had the ball. India have a future star in Amarjit.

PLAYERS WHO DID NOT IMPRESS:-

· Lallianzuala Chhangte was one of the few players who did not perform to their expectations. His running was wayward, he was off with his dribbling, he either overcooked or undercooked his crosses. He is expected to be better in games to come.

· Michael Soosairaj did not show what he was capable of. Although he got less amount of game-time, he should have played better. But, labelling him as a fail would be exaggeration.

· We saw, for the first time, the dependence on Sunil Chhetri getting reduced. He was a shadow of his ISL self.

WHATS NEXT FOR THE INDIAN NATIONAL TEAM

India will play another four-nation tournament, the Hero Intercontinental Cup from 7^th to 19^th July in Ahmedabad. This tournament will feature Syria, Tajikistan and North Korea. Syria is the only team ranked higher than India. This will be a tough tournament. India will have to be at their best to beat either of them. The tournament will be a round robin one. Each team will play 3 matches and then the top two will contest the final.

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INDIA VS OMAN PLAYER RATINGS

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

India's new manager : Igor Štimac

Igor Štimac Stephan Constantine 's exit might be a blessing for the future of Indian football. The All India Football Federation finally realized the need to bring about a revolution in Indian football and Igor Štimac might just be the correct man up for this job. After a disappointing campaign in Asian Cup 2019 , managing just 1 win out of 3 games, followed by Constantine's resignation from his position as a manager, the technical committee of the AIFF then selected the former World Cupper after interviewing four shortlisted candidates, including former Bengaluru FC manager Albert Roca.

HERO INTERCONTINENTAL CUP REVIEW

India ended their Hero Intercontinental Cup Campaign yesterday. They finished last among Tajikistan, North Korea and Syria. India lost against Tajikistan and North Korea before drawing against Syria. India played good football over long periods in this tournament. India VS Tajikistan : India lost by 4 goals to 2. In the first half, a Sunil Chhetri double powers India to a 2 goal lead. In the second half, some sloppy defending later India conceded 4 goals. The way India played in the first half was flawless and was almost perfect. India VS North Korea : India lost by 5 goals to 2. Some casual and lazy football in the first half caused India to concede twice. Even though Chhetri and Chhangte pulled goals back but India were never in the game. This was the first poor game under Igor Stimac . India VS Syria : This was India's best game of the tournament. India played with passion and vision. After a goalless first half, India turned on the heat in the second half. Naren

King's Cup 2019

The King's Cup Trophy The King's Cup is an annual international football tournament organized by the Football Association Of Thailand. Only one stadium in Thailand hosts the entire tournament. This year's tournament will be held in the Chang Arena at Buriram.Thailand are the constant participant in this tournament. The first edition was held in the year 1968. It has taken place every year ever since except 1983, 1985, 2008, 2011 and 2014.

India V/S Curacao : ANALYSIS

SCORE - INDIA - 1 - 3 - CURACAO 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 fin

Why India lost to Tajikistan? The take-aways from the match

Why India lost to Tajikistan? 1. Too much experimentation : This should actually be labelled as too much experimentation, where it was not required. Sandesh Jhingan was a rock at the back for India since he burst on to the international stage but he was not picked and an opportunity was given to the teenager, Narender Gahlot. He seemed nervous on the ball and while defending. Most of his errors were in the 2nd half. Igor Stimac should first try to create a team of 11 players who will always start in tournaments. During friendlies, he can go for experimentation. 2. No opportunities given to the forwards : The likes of Jobby Justin and Manvir Singh were kept rooted to the bench even when 2 goals were required and Jobby was only brought in at the 88' mark, which wasn't just enough. This is a worry because, after Sunil Chhetri retires, there is no one(except Jeje) who has the ability to score goals consistently. So, more chances are to be given to Jobby and Manvir. 3

India's Opponents in the King's Cup

The Participating Nations India will take part in the King's Cup 2019 in Thailand. This tournament will be contested by four teams - Thailand, India, Curacao and Vietnam. It will be essentially two semi-finals, a third place playoff and the final. So, each team will play two matches. Let us take a look at all of India's (potential) opponents and analyze them. A separate post will cover the analysis of the Indian National team.

ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL TEAM

REGION - AFC (Asia) FIFA RANKING - 101 HEAD COACH - Igor Štimac CAPTAIN - Pronay Halder MOST CAPS - Sunil Chhetri TOP GOALSCORER - Sunil Chhetri KEY PLAYERS - Sunil Chhetri , Pronay Halder , Gurpreet Singh Sandhu , Sandesh Jhingan , Anirudh Thapa CURRENT FORM(LAST 5 MATCHES) - LDWLL STRENGTHS - Inform goalscorers like Sunil Chhetri and Joby Justin. - Stable defence including the likes of Sandesh Jhingan, Subhasish Bose, Pritam Kotal and inform Bengaluru FC custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. - Youngsters including Brandon Fernandes, Jackichand Singh , Michael Soosairaj and Udanta Singh will add more pace and energy to the wings. 10. Weakness- Lack of creativity in midfield - Absence of proper ball holding playmaker in midfield. - Forward Balwant Singh's off form in domestic league - Tendency of conceding goals

INDIA'S 23 MAN SQUAD OVERVIEW

The Indian Team Training in Delhi India's new head coach Igor Stimac has announced the 23 man squad which will be traveling to Buriram, Thailand for the King's Cup . The squad predominantly features more number of young players, some of whom will make their debut. We can safely say that Igor Stimac has gone for the players who had performed well in the 2018-19 season. These are the 23 who certainly deserved it, bar a couple of surprise inclusions and exclusions. This is a young team which would be exciting to watch with the ball at their feet. Let us look at a complete overview of the selection and then a player by player stat based post will follow. OVERALL CHARACTERISTICS :- The Indian 23 man squad is made up of 3 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 11 midfielders and 4 forwards. It has been seen that Mr.Stimac has been very bold in his selections and exclusions- First of all, he had released Rowlin Borges from the camp. Rowlin as a holding midfielder came

Bringing Indian Football To You

The Blue Tigers Hello Indian football fans, Welcome to the home of Indian Football. This blog is designed to keep all you football fanatics updated about the recent developments in the Indian National Football team. It will also be about the game in the top leagues of the country. The love for the beautiful game is what brings us here. Let's do this!!

The Oriental Journeyman

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INDIA VS OMAN PLAYER RATINGS