By Swastika Sahu
India opened their CAFA Nations Cup campaign on Friday with a 2-1 win over higher-ranked Tajikistan in Dushanbe, as goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu produced a string of brilliant saves, including a penalty stop, under the guidance of new coach Khalid Jamil.
Khalid Jamil took charge as head coach of the Indian men’s football team. This win also turned out to be India’s first victory on foreign soil in close to two years, with their last away win coming back in November 2023 against Kuwait during the World Cup qualifiers.
Making a comeback into the national side, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was handed the captain’s armband and he showcased skillful performance. The experienced custodian pulled off some crucial saves including stopping a penalty in the second half so that India’s lead could be preserved. Ranked 133rd in the world, India took a 2-0 lead courtesy goals from defender Anwar Ali in the 5th minute and another strike from Sandesh Jhingan in the 13th minute. They then sat back to defend for the remaining 75 minutes against attacks coming from hosts who are ranked 106th.
Among a passionate gathering at Central Hisor Stadium, India injected itself into the lead early on as defender Anwar Ali’s header sliced through in the fifth minute. ‘‘It was a ball lobbed in by Stalin and although the Indian forwards got a touch with their heads, a Cuban defender tried to clear it off the goal-line but crossed it instead,’’ explained the goal to Anwar. Indian central defenders Anwar and Sandesh Jhingan would eventually rise to the occasion by ending the team’s three games scoring drought within the opening 15 minutes.
Jamil, missing both Sunil Chhetri—who was left out of the current squad—and the Mohun Bagan Super Giant players—who were not released by the club—struggled to find effective attacking solutions through Irfan Yadwad and Vikram Partap Singh.
However, India doubled their lead just eight minutes later, with the second goal coming from a short throw-in. Muhammad Uvais linked up with Chhangte before delivering a cross into the box. Despite a strategy focused on long throws and offensive runs from the center-backs, it paid off as three defenders were involved in the second goal, which ultimately proved to be the match-winner. Anwar’s cross from the right was headed on target by Rahul Bheke, forcing a reaction save from goalkeeper Muhriddin Hasanov, but Jhingan pounced on the rebound to score, securing the victory. Securing the victory.
Nonetheless in his first start since November of last year, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu came through with a crucial leg stop that kept the home team from equalizing.
In the upcoming days, the Blue Tigers will play their final group-stage match against Afghanistan three days after their next CAFA Nations Cup match against the world No. 20 Islamic Republic of Iran on Monday, September 1.