Despite the goalless draw away to Afghanistan, India still remains in a position of relative comfort in the second round of World Cup qualifiers with two big home matches in hand. The first of which will be again against Afghanistan on Tuesday at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here on Tuesday. In Group B, India is second in the table behind Qatar and is a point ahead of Kuwait.
Igor Stimac opted for an all-out attack approach in Abha last Thursday with four forwards but only for his side to put in an insipid display against a robust Afghanistan side. Stimac pointed out to the four chances India had with two big ones falling to Manvir Singh and Subhasish Bose, who both failed to find the target.
While there are pressing issues in other areas of the pitch, the lack of goals and inventiveness in the final third has been emblematic of India’s issues with zero goals in its five-match winless run.
India is a side which neither creates high-quality chances nor does it create them at will. In the recently concluded Asian Cup, where India exited in the group stage, it finished with an xG of 0.61 – the second lowest among 24 teams.
Naturally, the eyes will turn to the 39-year-old Sunil Chhetri, who will be playing his 150th match in India colours, but he too has struggled to find the back of the net. Chhetri has scored just once in his last 16 matches for club and country. Vikram Partap Singh has been in a rich vein of form with six goals for Mumbai City FC, but failed to keep his composure on the ball during his senior team bow in Abha.
When the game was stretched in the second half, substitute Brandon Fernandes offered quality on the ball in the no. 10 role, but after Afghanistan regained control, the Indian midfielders failed to find the Goa attacking midfielder. It will be interesting to see if Stimac opts to shift to a 4-3-3 system to offer more control and creativity in the middle to try and break down a physical Afghanistan side.
Source Agencies
