AFC Asian Cup - 2019 UAE

[SaniaFan]

But after half time the game has totally changed. India has dominated first 8 minutes and are leading 2-1!!

[ankit1407]

3-1 with 20 mins to go ..

[srini]

leading 4-1 now

[ankit1407]

Jeje comes on and scores a goal .. 4-1 some performance this ..

[SaniaFan]

So 4-1 it is then. And India is leading the group. Bahrain and UAE drew their match.

[SaniaFan]

Waiting for Jay's reaction when he wakes up!!

[Prashant]

Excellent. I couldn't watch it, but this is a very encouraging result.

Bahrain & UAE drew 1-1 so we are top of our pool for now. To temper expectations a bit, Thailand are the lowest ranked team in our pool currently, but their ranking is almost equal to Bahrain. So hopefully we can trounce Bahrain too.

[Omkara]

On Elo rating they are ahead of us. Now we know for sure something wrong with this rating.

[jayakris]

Waiting for Jay's reaction when he wakes up!!

Yeah, I was away and unable to follow the match at all.

What a fantastic way to start the tournament!! Chhetri is amazing.

[SaniaFan]

Actually last 3 finishes were very good. And I specifically liked the cool finish for third goal by youngster Thapa!!

[jaydeep]

After 55 years we have won the match in the AFC Asian Cup and this was our biggest win ...
Yes, Sunil Chhetri becomes leading Indian goal scorer in the AFC Asian Cup (total 67 goals) after taking his tally to 4 goals.

Next two matches are important for us to knock-out qualification.

[jayakris]

On Elo rating they are ahead of us. Now we know for sure something wrong with this rating.

I always felt that ELO ratings were more wrong about us than the earlier FIFA rankings. When we went up to top-100 on FIFA an year ago, and were still around 170 on ELO, I felt we must be at least around 125 or so, realistically. But now it seems, after two ties in away games against top-80 teams in the last 4 games and now this, our FIFA ranking is pretty much legit. Quite a change from 4 or so years ago, when I used to say that Indian football was pretty much dead.

Next two matches are important for us to knock-out qualification.

As the 4 third place teams from 6 pools make the final-16, the win and the goal margin may have pretty much put us into the final-16 already... But can't say.

[jaydeep]

Next two matches are important for us to knock-out qualification.

As the 4 third place teams from 6 pools make the final-16, the win and the goal margin may have pretty much put us into the final-16 already... But can't say.

Agree, I thought the same but avoiding to get excited too early ...

[jayakris]

Here are the highlights (good quality video too) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnPPQW-lyUg

[prasen9]

Making the last 16 is not enough. If we can draw or beat any of the middle-eastern teams, we will get better opponents in the 16. That may mean a trip to the final eight being hard to being next to impossible. Let's go.

Let's recognize Constantine again. He was let go and then came back. He has served Indian football well for a long time. Did Koevermans have any hand with any of the juniors?