World Cup Qualifier: India needs to start winning points, not just hearts

The first minute after the kick-off whistle at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru was the most agonising.

The last time India played at home in a World Cup qualifier at the stadium, their opponents Oman scored after 15 seconds. So when Iran had possession from the start, India were expected to sit deep in the early going. Instead, they pressed collectively, won the ball quickly and got it straight to Sunil Chhetri. Then they lost it, won it back with a robust tackle and tried to find Robin Singh on the left.

For the first 45 minutes, apart from a soft goal conceded off a freekick, this is what transpired: Iran throwing everything at India, and the India players throwing their bodies on the line – chasing, running, pressing, tackling, intercepting, blocking and clearing like there was no tomorrow.

“We were surprised and confused with the way India started. We didn’t expect them to play with so much determination and they caused some problems in the middle of the park. When we saw the starting lineup and three forwards, we felt the pressure,” Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said after the match.

Sadly, that’s not enough to win a football game. For that, you need to pass, shoot, cross, dribble and move. India didn’t do any of the things required to win. It’s been their story in the World Cup qualifiers so far: India show spirit, heart and determination – but at the end of 90 minutes, have trudged out of three games without a single point. The loss to Oman at home was unlucky, the loss to Guam away was due to an atrocious performance and the defeat at the hands of Iran was simply because the Blue Tigers were out-played.

Goals from rising star Sardar Azmoun (29th minute) and quickfire second half strikes from Andrenik Teymourian and Mehdi Taromi finished India’s hopes of advancing in the World Cup qualifiers.

India coach Stephen Constantine started in what looked like a 4-5-1 formation, with captain Sunil Chhetri asked to mark Teymourian and Robin Singh playing on the left wing. Where Constantine erred was playing Eugeneson Lyngdoh on the right – a decision which cost the team a passer in midfield and made the Bengaluru FC midfielder look like a square peg in a round hole.

Lyngdoh usually links midfield and attack. But with him shunted out wide, the attacking trio of Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Robin Singh lacked support when they received the ball. It was quite shocking to see them win so many duels in the final third but still not make anything of them before Iran reshaped. It is in those moments that India lost the match: the clarity and basics of passing and moving was simply not there.

In fact, India reverted to type: lumping the ball forward and hoping for a lucky break or a flick on. Even though Constantine doesn’t advocate these tactics, he said executing passing football was harder than wishing for it.

When Firstpost asked Constantine why his team seemed to settle for the plaudits of lionhearted-ness, when in fact it was the points that mattered more, he chuckled.

“Imagine what we could do if we had our calendar aligned with the FIFA calendar. A lot of good teams in Asia and Africa suffer because of this problem when in fact they can be much better if they followed it. These boys played like this without seeing any competitive action for three months — so imagine what we could do if I had them for more days. Just imagine,” he said, shrugging, before adding: “We have five days [national camp] before leaving for Turkmenistan, so…” and then shrug again.

Constantine has been adamant that India – a team which he believes is “already at death’s door” – need to sort its calendar out as soon as possible to have any sort of international success. For that there needs to be a unified league. When pressed on the same matter earlier after a meeting in Mumbai, AIFF president Praful Patel snapped back, saying that “Constantine is not the custodian of Indian football” and that a change in the calendar can’t have such a huge impact on the national team.

But this is a universal problem. Quieroz, who benefits from being able to choose players who play in Europe and from a more streamlined football arrangement in Iran, also spoke about the same issue: “FIFA allows four days before international fixtures and it’s simply not enough,” the former Manchester United assistant manager said when asked why Asian teams were not creating ripples in world football.

The basic demand is consistency. The more often you play, the better you get together.

Even though it was another loss, India at least showed they are not going to be out-muscled and beaten in the air. Centre back Sandesh Jhingan was fantastic — blocking everything that came his way. Gurpreet Singh’s debut is another sign of Constantine’s willingness to give youth a chance and Robin Singh on the left showed why his goal-scoring is secondary to the amount of ground he covers. It was almost as if he was manning the whole left flank on his own.

India need to turn these solid performances into points, and fast. Finishing fourth in the group will still get them into the Asian Cup. But for that, they need to win their home games.

“I thought we worked hard off the ball, we are playing in India and I don’t want us to sit back and defend. In our house, we set the rules and we will do that with anybody who comes here,” Constantine said, hinting that he will deploy adventurous tactics in the future.

These rules though, need to state that India need to score. Not just run, not just fight, not just get stuck in. In the end, you get points for winning games, not hearts.