Well I could catch only the last 40 minutes of the action but it was enough for me to make a fair assessment of what all happened during the match.
About three days ago i had a huge argument with my friend about whether i should cover Indian Football or not. He was stubborn that i should do it. Well, i like many people in our country thought that it was worthless to cover Indian football. I thought why not watch a match??!!! Its afteral our country!! Then i realised!!!!Well how wrong can i be!!!!
India starting after a 3-0 defeat had surely made an exit from the qualifiers. Now it was all about salvaging some pride. A higher ranked team is supposed to steam roll over the opposition and with their main stopper Subrato Paul out, after being given a much debated red carded, India were definitely lacking quality in defence.
When i switched on my television set UAE were leading 1 goal to nothing!!! As i saw the scoreline i thought that this would be a routine game for UAE with no trouble at all!!!!
All of a sudden i was bemused!!!!! Not by the way our players were playing but looking at the pitch condition!!! The four letter word did come out of my mouth!!!! These players were playing in a literal "swimming pool"!!!! If Jawaharlal Nehru would have been alive he would have certainly ordered the stadium to be named after someone else!!!! The pitch did not look to have a proper slope!!!! no sand at all below the grass for drainage!!! nothing at all!!!! there was water everywhere!!! If anyone tried to run past defenders they would slip!! If they tried to cross the ball the ball would stop drop dead then and there!!! Even the refree could not make out if their was a fair tackle or not!!! And still our players were finding each other!!! i wont say with ease but they were much better than the UAE team!!! The men in white did not look comfortable (no team would)!!! The game was being played more in the UAE half!!!
Then against the run of play UAE somehow managed to find their right winger who smashed the ball in the net beating the stand in keeper Karanjit!!! I thought now that the Indias would give up!!!! Who will not after going behind 5-0 on aggregate!!!
But again the Indians played amazing football!!! the football was similar to that of the beach football but they played it with ease. The crosses which stopped dead would have been pin point if it would have been an Emirates or Old Trafford!!! The players gathered great courage and soon they found Je Je who headed in the first goal for India in this two legged tie!!!! Well i dont know why but i felt good!!!! must have been the love for my country!!!Then to my great horror my tata sky gave way!!! RAINS!!!
But the last minute information i got that India gasped an eqaulizer in the last minutes the game!!! I was extrmely happy!!! The game ended 2-2 and 5-2 to UAE on agg.
Well in the end it was a sad ending for the Indian football once again but this time they can go out with their held high!!!! They played good football on a pitch which wasnt offering them anything!!! yes there were the minuses like chettri missing chances!!! but i wouldnt blame him!!! even if cristiano ronaldo would have been playing he too would have missed them!!!
The management should be ashamed of themselves for even keeping a match on such a pitch!! i know we are not the best team in the world but we have shown we have got quality!!! We demand respect for the players!! Not only for football but also other sports!! Cricket is definitely a passion for all of us but that does not mean that we ignore the other sports!!!! Atleast prepare a decent enough stadium for them to prepare!! If this team can beat qatar, a draw against UAE after going 2-0 down and beat other higher ranked teams by practicing on such a surface imagine what it could do if they had a world class pitch to practice on!!!
I still agree that we are not even close to being the best team in the world but that does not mean that we CANT BE!!!!!!!!
Rishabh Ghai
(Dedicated to Kashyap Swaroop)
About three days ago i had a huge argument with my friend about whether i should cover Indian Football or not. He was stubborn that i should do it. Well, i like many people in our country thought that it was worthless to cover Indian football. I thought why not watch a match??!!! Its afteral our country!! Then i realised!!!!Well how wrong can i be!!!!
India starting after a 3-0 defeat had surely made an exit from the qualifiers. Now it was all about salvaging some pride. A higher ranked team is supposed to steam roll over the opposition and with their main stopper Subrato Paul out, after being given a much debated red carded, India were definitely lacking quality in defence.
When i switched on my television set UAE were leading 1 goal to nothing!!! As i saw the scoreline i thought that this would be a routine game for UAE with no trouble at all!!!!
All of a sudden i was bemused!!!!! Not by the way our players were playing but looking at the pitch condition!!! The four letter word did come out of my mouth!!!! These players were playing in a literal "swimming pool"!!!! If Jawaharlal Nehru would have been alive he would have certainly ordered the stadium to be named after someone else!!!! The pitch did not look to have a proper slope!!!! no sand at all below the grass for drainage!!! nothing at all!!!! there was water everywhere!!! If anyone tried to run past defenders they would slip!! If they tried to cross the ball the ball would stop drop dead then and there!!! Even the refree could not make out if their was a fair tackle or not!!! And still our players were finding each other!!! i wont say with ease but they were much better than the UAE team!!! The men in white did not look comfortable (no team would)!!! The game was being played more in the UAE half!!!
Then against the run of play UAE somehow managed to find their right winger who smashed the ball in the net beating the stand in keeper Karanjit!!! I thought now that the Indias would give up!!!! Who will not after going behind 5-0 on aggregate!!!
But again the Indians played amazing football!!! the football was similar to that of the beach football but they played it with ease. The crosses which stopped dead would have been pin point if it would have been an Emirates or Old Trafford!!! The players gathered great courage and soon they found Je Je who headed in the first goal for India in this two legged tie!!!! Well i dont know why but i felt good!!!! must have been the love for my country!!!Then to my great horror my tata sky gave way!!! RAINS!!!
But the last minute information i got that India gasped an eqaulizer in the last minutes the game!!! I was extrmely happy!!! The game ended 2-2 and 5-2 to UAE on agg.
Well in the end it was a sad ending for the Indian football once again but this time they can go out with their held high!!!! They played good football on a pitch which wasnt offering them anything!!! yes there were the minuses like chettri missing chances!!! but i wouldnt blame him!!! even if cristiano ronaldo would have been playing he too would have missed them!!!
The management should be ashamed of themselves for even keeping a match on such a pitch!! i know we are not the best team in the world but we have shown we have got quality!!! We demand respect for the players!! Not only for football but also other sports!! Cricket is definitely a passion for all of us but that does not mean that we ignore the other sports!!!! Atleast prepare a decent enough stadium for them to prepare!! If this team can beat qatar, a draw against UAE after going 2-0 down and beat other higher ranked teams by practicing on such a surface imagine what it could do if they had a world class pitch to practice on!!!
I still agree that we are not even close to being the best team in the world but that does not mean that we CANT BE!!!!!!!!
Rishabh Ghai
(Dedicated to Kashyap Swaroop)
