Shillong, Mar 25: Football fans turned out in their thousands to pack into the JN Stadium for the India-Bangladesh 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifier here tonight and were treated to an exciting, if goalless, draw between the two neighbours.
Bangladesh, ranked far below India, will consider this to almost have been victory, something that they have never managed against the Blue Tigers in India.
With the capacity of the impressively refurbished JN Stadium limited to around 15,000 seats, the fans did not disappoint, with more than 14,900 of them taking up their seats from every vantage point. Dignitaries for the first competitive-level match in Shillong included the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, All India Football Federation Secretary General Anilkumar P and Meghalaya Football Association President Hamletson Dohling.
India head coach Manolo Márquez made five changes from the team that vanquished Maldives in the FIFA friendly less than a week ago, bringing in Boris Singh Thangjam, Udanta Singh Kumam, Lalengmawia Ralte, Sandesh Jhingan and Farukh Choudhary. He also handed over the captain’s armband to Sandesh and looked like he had his plans firmly in place on the lush green pitch.
Yet, Bangladesh had an opportunity to grab the lead within a few seconds of the start when goalkeeper Vishal Kaith’s unsteady clearance landed straight to Md Mojibor Jony. To the relief of the Indian bench, the Bangladesh midfielder’s shot crashed against the side net.
The next foray also came from Bangladesh. Md Shakil Topu danced down the right and crossed in the goalmouth for Md Shariar Emon to take a header that sailed over the bar.
In the first 15 minutes, the visitors tormented the Blue Tigers’ defence with vigour and energy. While Emon looked increasingly dangerous, one more mistake by Kaith had the Indian goal in trouble, but Subhasish Bose made a desperate goalline save in the nick of time.
The unexpected storm over, India slowly settled down to take charge of things and make inroads in the rival defence with encouraging domination in the midfield, and created a few positive chances during this period.
The first to test the Bangladesh goalkeeper Mitul Marma was Liston Colaco, but his right footer didn’t have the required punch. At the stroke of half an hour, the home side had a chance to go up, but Farukh couldn’t beat the custodian despite having a clear view of the frame. The move was initiated by Colaco on the left flank, which was promptly headed down at the goalmouth by Udanta Singh after Md Ridoy made a rather sloppy clearance.
An opportunity went begging for Bangladesh in the 41st minute when Jony raced through the right and was about to slam it in but Kaith displayed remarkable efficiency to foil the attempt.
On the other side, Colaco was doing his job well and truly. In the 54th minute, his measured cross at the goalmouth had the ingredients to fetch a goal, but Sunil Chhetri couldn’t find the right connection despite his quick and impressive spot jump.
India were pressing high during this period, and a couple of minutes later, Chhetri was foiled by defensive midfielder Hamza Choudhury with a strong shoulder push in the air. Having come to the Bangladesh national side with his wealth of experience in England, Hamza clearly pulled the strings in every Bangladesh move, both in defence and attack.
(All India Football Federation photo. India in blue, Bangladesh in red)
