India Suffers Defeat Against Thailand in Lacklustre Match

AFC Asian Cup qualifying match is on the horizon. However, Sunil Chhetri’s performance is full of disappointment.

Kolkata, June 5: A few days ago, Sanjay Sen’s Bengal gave the Indian team a run in the warm-up match in Kolkata. Despite somehow winning the match, there were still questions about India’s good performance in Thailand. And the fears came true when Manolo Marquez’s India faced them on Thai soil on Wednesday. The match was part of the AFC Asian Cup qualification round. However, Sunil Chhetri’s team lost 0-2 against Thailand in a disappointing performance.

Manolo Marquez’s team will play the third round match of the Asian Cup qualifiers against Hong Kong next Tuesday. Before that, the Indian team wanted to see the friendly match against Thailand on Wednesday as a stage for preparation. But there is a lot of darkness in the Indian team during the preparation stage. The ‘Men in Blue’ suffered a humiliating two-goal defeat against a team that is 28 places ahead in the FIFA rankings. After almost a decade of preparation camp in Kolkata, they arrived in Thailand for four days of preparation. Even then, Indian football fans got a chaotic football.

The Indian team showed a display of wasting several chances in today’s match. In the first half, Liston Colasso found goalkeeper Saranon Anuin alone but shot at him. In the second half, substitute Lalianjuala Chang also wasted an easy chance. On the other hand, Thailand was victorious in pressing football. Benjamin Davis scored a goal with a long-range shot after eight minutes from a pass from Korawic Tasar. India slowly started to attack after overcoming the shock of falling behind. India took a shot on the opponent’s goal for the first time in the 24th minute. Sunil headed Liston’s cross beautifully, but the goalkeeper jumped and saved it. However, the entire attack on the flanks was centered around Liston. Manvir Singh disappointed on the right wing.

India’s defeat was confirmed in the 13th minute of the second half. The second goal for the Southeast Asian country was scored by Poramet Arzviai. In this case too, the goal was a long-range shot. When the unprotected Arzviai was standing in the gap and taking the shot, Ashish Rai did not make the slightest resistance. After falling behind by two goals, Manolo brought down Lalianjuala Changte and Suhel Bhat. But they too failed. Sunil Chhetri was also ineffective. All in all, India is in the dark of shame before the big match. Less than a week to go. Handling the Hong Kong challenge by overcoming mistakes is now a big test for Sunil.

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