After a hard-fought fight, the Indian football team lost 1-2 to Bahrain, a higher-ranked country, in an international friendly game on Wednesday.
Mohammed Al-Hardan, a midfielder, scored the game’s first goal. It was a volley at the Al Muharraq Stadium in the 38th minute. Al-Hardan’s goal was not enough for the home team as seven members of the Indian squad could not travel to Bahrain on Tuesday due to visa-related problems. The Indian team responded in the 59th with a Rahul Bhheke header.
Igor Stimac, the head coach, decided to introduce Naorem Rosshan Singh at half-time. It was his help that India achieved parity.
India’s joy was short-lived, as Mahdi Humidan scored the crucial goal in the 88th to secure the deal for Bahrain.
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Stimac’s team, currently ranked at 104 in FIFA rankings, faced a formidable opponent. The Indians, who are currently ranked at 91st, found it difficult from the beginning. If not for Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s good spot save, they would have lost the match by a more significant margin at half-time.
After a handball by Sandesh Jhingan, Indian defense mainstay, Bahrain was given a penalty in the sixth minute. But goalkeeper Gurpreet dived to his left to deny the hosts an advantage and made a great save.
Unflinching, Bahrain kept pressing hard and put India on the back foot. Even though Mohamed Marhoon hit the woodwork after scoring the ball, Bahrain continued to press. Mahdi attempted to hit the ball with a bounce, but it was too late.
In the meantime, India’s Danish Farooq was allowed to win. However, Anwar Ali’s ball from the right was lofted by Farooq, but his header wasn’t on target.
Gurpreet displayed good anticipation at the post, but he couldn’t stop Al-Hardan from scoring a volley that reached the net.
At the beginning of the second half, Stimac changed the XI, adding Naorem Roshan to replace Liston Colaco. The move quickly paid off as the former played an essential role in India’s crucial equalizer against the run-of-play.
After Roshan Singh had made a cross from the left, Bheke won the off-side trap, and he put the ball in the back of the net.
Bahrain attempted to dominate the game by retaining possession, but India held firm, and their defense frustrated the opposition no end.
But, Bahrain was able to have the last laugh thanks to Mahdi’s winner.
In June, India will play the friendly in preparation for the Asian Cup Qualifiers.
India has never defeated Bahrain. India has never defeated Bahrain in six of its last fixtures. The best result was the 0-0 draw in 1982.
