Shillong: Manolo Marquez was shooting from the lip. India were lucky to have got a point, he said. “We were very, very poor,” said the head coach after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Bangladesh here. “This is the most difficult press conference I have come to. If I have to say all the things that are going on in my head….” He paused, letting the sentence hang in media room close to the pitch where Bangladesh drew the match but won the bragging rights. “Maybe this is the reality of Indian football,” Marquez had told the official broadcaster.
India could still have escaped to victory had Sunil Chhetri not attempted a first-time header and tried instead to control Naorem Mahesh’s delivery in the 83rd minute. Or if Subhasish Bose been able to keep a free header on target in the 72nd. Equally, against a team that have never beaten them in India, Marquez’s men, who, barring Liston Colaco, played like boys, could have been embarrassed.
Vishal Kaith started his first competitive international in some time with a mispass and it almost led to Bangladesh scoring from kick-off. Most people had not been able to get in when Mojibor Jony hit the side-netting after Hamza Choudhury found him on the right.
In the 11th minute, Kaith’s goalkick ricocheted off a Bangladesh player and it needed Subhasish Bose to slide in to keep out Shariar Emon’s poke. Five minutes later, Shekh Morsalin found Emon who flew to meet the ball but could not keep it on target.
Bangladesh’s press and energy from the off left India rattled. Sandesh Jhingan asked for calm but to the chagrin of the fast-filling stadium, chaos is what they saw in the ranks of their team. A long hopeful ball which Rahul Bheke could not slide and meet was India’s only chance by when Bangladesh could have sealed this group C match of the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifier. Nothing had come Chhetri’s way till the 19th minute when Boris Singh tried to find him but the pass was too fast.
To counter Bangladesh’s swarm, India needed patience and time on the ball. They began to do around the 30-minute mark by when Colaco activated the left flank. An injury to Bangladesh skipper and central defender Topu Barman had forced them to reorganise the backline and get substitute Rahmat Mia in as right back. Colaco had the measure of his man. In the 36th minute, he turned Mia inside out drawing a foul.
Bangladesh goalie Mitul Marma was not really tested but Colaco had managed a shot on target. On the break, Kaith, Bose and Colaco had worked out a combination. Chhetri had started his run but slipped on the pitch leaving Colaco with no other option but go solo.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here has scaffolding on an architectural abomination on one side and a hill rising right behind the gallery on another. With lights on in houses on the hill that overlooks the stadium, it felt like more than 14,952 were watching. Those on the stands banged chairs when Colaco fired his shot and in the 39th minute when Farukh Choudhary’s stab was kept out by Mia after Udanta’s header had been legged out by a Bangladesh player.
Choudhary’s reaction showed he could have done better after Bose’s throw was cushioned by Chhetri for him to pull the trigger. Next minute Kaith denied Jony in a one-on-one situation. But his night of errors was not over. Another hasty pass this time in the second half reached a Bangladesh player and it needed a diving clearance from Bose to avert danger. India’s problems with finding a striker is not new. After this match and with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s bad form, it looks like the search for goalkeepers too will have to begin.
Like Kaith, Hamza too was new to his team but if one was shaky the other was smooth. Operating from deep which made marking him difficult, Hamza showed why Leicester City had offered him a professional contract after he had come through the ranks in their academy.
In the 57th minute, Hamza timed his leap to block Chhetri’s header and had earlier used his body to deny Colaco. On another occasion, surrounded by blue shirts, he calmly played back to his goalkeeper. As India pushed after half-time, Hamza dropped between central defenders to help. He was the team’s corner-kick taker and looked unfazed by all the noise around his arrival.
This was the kind of start Bangladesh would have wanted him to have. There is so much to learn playing against a player like him, said Lalengmawia Ralte.
“He has improved the mentality of this team. And players have become better playing alongside him,” said Javier Cabrera, the Bangladesh head coach. You couldn’t say that about any India player.
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