A stunner by Sunil Chhetri could not stop the Indian Football Team from losing the game against Oman
A packed stadium and an army of supporters were not enough for the Indian football team to win the match against Oman.
It was a valiant effort by the Indian National Football Team . Stephen Constantine must have been happy the way his team played against Oman. But there was some serious lack in discipline as far as the defence was concerned. Silly defence errors had cost India the match.
There was a goal in the opening minutes of the game. Oman’s Qasim Said, scored a goal in the opening minute of the game and had caught the Indian defenders unaware. It seemed that the Indian team was still warming up to the game when the first goal was scored.
Indian equalized in the 26th minute when Anto’s throw-in from the right was caught by Chhetri and was cut in, after which a fierce left-footed shot from the Indian Football’s poster boy found the net. It was a beautiful goal. After that, the Indian team played with more confidence and even made a few chances for Arnab Mondal and Robin Singh, but they were not successful. Vineeth even ran down the right flank and gave a cross to Robin, but it was cut down by Al Habsi.
In the 40th minute again, an unnecessary tackle inside the box saw a goal in the form of a penalty which was scored by Imad Al Hosni in the 40th minute. This definitely showed that Indians lacked the concentration in the match. They lost their concentration twice in the match and paid for it.
The Indian sides made six changes from the last match that was against Nepal – Dhanachandra Singh, Sehnaj Singh, Rino Anto, CK Vineeth, Lalcchuammawia Fanai and Jackichand Singh. For four of these players, it was their debut match.
Indians did find the back of the net in the second half, but it was called offside by the linesman. It seemed that Robin Singh was interfering with the play.
As far as Oman was concerned, they played a beautiful match. They were the favourites in the match and played like favourites. They played with some ferocity, which was aided by the huge gaps in the Indian defence line. When Eid Mohammad and Al Khaldi combined Khaldi’s cross into the box, the visitors could have doubled the lead, but the ball was stopped by Fanai.
The visitors had the possession of the ball for a major duration of the play and during the end of the match; they even slowed down the pace of the game. During the stoppage time, Arnab Mondal did manage to send a long ball to Chhetri, but unfortunately he missed timed the kick and the ball went out of play. The Indian team did appeal for a penalty, but the referee did not oblige.
India will play their next match against Guam on June 16th. They will look forward to carrying on their attacking form in the next match and bag 3 points. One thing is for sure that the Indian team will be buoyed by their performance in the match against Oman.
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