Football News

At the AFC Asian Cup 2019, UAE

India's 23-man final team
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Vishal Kaith, Amrinder Singh
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Sarthak Golui, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Salam Ranjan Singh, Subhasish Bose, Narayan Das
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Germanpreet Singh, Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa, Vinit Rai, Rowllin Borges, Ashique Kuruniyan, Halicharan Narzary
Forwards: Sumeet Passi, Balwant Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua

A good combination of youth and experienced players in the Indian team ... Our team is the 2nd youngest team in the Asian Cup with 25 yrs of average age ... These days our defenders are putting a decent show in all matches.

India is in Group A along with Thailand, Bahrain and hosts UAE ... The Indians will start their campaign on January 6, 2019, against Thailand in Abu Dhabi.

Football News

At the FIFA Intercontinental Friendly 2018, Abu Dhabi, UAE

India dw Oman 0-0 (0-0)

The Indian men held the higher ranked Oman side a goalless draw ... A good result considering our team halted Oman's 3 matches winning streak.

Football News

At the FIFA International Friendly 2018, Amman, Jordan

Jordan bt India 2-1 (1-0)
Goal Scored - Amer Shafi (JOR) 25' Ehsan Haddad (JOR) 58' and Nishu Kumar (IND) 61'

India lost against Jordan in the friendly ... We conceded both goals from goalkeeping errors ... Jordan's opener, a freak goal from their own goalkeeper, was entirely Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's fault ... First he sent a freekick straight into Amer Shafi's hands and then did not get back in goal in time ... He misjudged the bounce on Amer Shafi's long punt upfield and could only palm the ball into his own net while backtracking ... The second goal saw Ehsan Haddadi's shot beat him at his near post .. Gurpreet should have done better in that situation ... Other hand Nishu Kumar scored on his debut.

Football News

At the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament - First Round, Myanmar

Group C
India dw Nepal 1-1 (1-1)
India bt Bangladesh 7-1 (3-0)
India l Myanmar 1-2 (1-1)

A terrific feat by our women's football team, who qualified for the Olympic Qualifiers second round for the first time ... The Indian women's team advanced to the second round after finishing second in Group C with four points from three matches, behind table toppers Myanmar ... The second round of the Olympic Qualifiers will be played in April next year.

Football News

At the FIFA International Friendlies 2018, Suzhou, China

India vs China 0-0 (0-0)

A defensively solid Indian team held China to a goalless draw ... The Chinese team was superior on the field but Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was exceptional in-front of the goal and creditable performance by Sandesh Jhingan in the defense ... We defended really well as our players putting body in-between ball ... We also had a chances but in end this goalless draw was right result ... We faced China after 21 yrs. in this historic match.

Football News

The FIFA Rankings - 16th August 2018,

#96 India 1242 pts.

The FIFA replaced its much-criticised previous formula and declared new ranking under ELO type formula ... The FIFA removed an annual average points and weightage of the points on basis of which part of world it played etc. ... India has climbed one place to 96th under the new FIFA ranking ... Good to see that we didn't drop and probably a little over-ranked but it is better ... The German team affected more as they were WR#1 in old formula but because they failed to cross group stage in the WC they slide to #15 and the World Cup winner France becomes new #1 team.

Football News

At the Intercontinental Cup 2018, Mumbai, India

Final
India bt Kenya 2-0 (2-0)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 8' and 29'

India crowned the Intercontinental Cup beating Kenya in clinical performance ... Sunil scored two superb goals in first 30 minutes to tilt the tie in India's favor ... Sunil scored 1st goal when Anirudh Thapa delivered a low horizontal ball from the free-kick ... Anas Edathodika gave along pass and Sunil controlled ball beating off-side trap and scored with left foot ... We also defended well when put under the pressure in the second half ... Sunil Chhetri scored 8 goals in 4 games. Phenom.

New Zealand finished on the third beating Chinese Taipei 1-0.

Football News

At the Intercontinental Cup 2018, Mumbai, India

India l New Zealand 1-2 (0-0)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 46' and Andre de Jong (NZL) 49', Moses Dyer (NZL) 86'

Depleted Indian side lost against New Zealand side in their final match ... They conceded a goal when 5 minutes were remaining ... India as head coach Stephen Constantine made seven changes from our last match to check his bench strength ... Jeje had left on the bench, the first-half ended on goalless ... Sunil scored bizarre goal in the start of the second half, the goalkeeper Mike Woud slamed right into Chhetri's leg on back pass ... Kiwis immediately equalized through de Jong ... Dyer scored a winner in the late of the match.

Football News

At the Intercontinental Cup 2018, Mumbai, India

India bt Kenya 3-0 (0-0)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 68' P and 90+', Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 61'

India beat Kenya by 3-0 to make it two wins in as many matches in the four-nation Intercontinental Cup ... Sunil Chhetri marked his 100th appearance for India with a brace (68' and 90+2') while Jeje Lalpekhua found the net for the hosts in the 71st minute ... Sandesh Jhingan wins the man of the match award with his rock solid defense and passes ... With this win, we also confirm our spot in the final match of the four-nation tournament. .

Football News

At the Intercontinental Cup 2018, Mumbai, India

India bt Chinese Taipei 5-0 (2-0)
Goal Scored - Sunil Chhetri (IND) 14', 34' and 61', Udanta Singh (IND) 48', Pranoy Halder (IND) 78'

In the opening match, Indians dominated against depleted Chinese Taipei side, who fielded six U-23 players and two U-19, and scored a huge win ... Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick, his first after 2010 against Vietnam ... Jeje played good supportive role with setting up Chhetri, but our young mid-fielder Anirudh Thapa was the most impressive player on the field.

Football News

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, United Arab Emirates

Group A
United Arab Emirates (#81), India, (#97), Bahrain (#116) and Thailand (#122)

India have been drawn into Group A along with hosts United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Bahrain in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup ... India's opening game will be against Thailand on 6th January 2018, then India will face hosts UAE on January 10 ... In their final group match, they will face Bahrain on January 14 ... This isn't easy group us considering our past results against these teams, though we are the 2nd highest ranked the team in the group.

Football News

At the 2019 AFC Asian Cup - Third Round Qualification, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Group A
Kyrgyzstan bt India 2-1 (1-0)
Goal Scored - Anton Zemlianukhin (KGZ) 2', Mirlan Murzaev (KGZ) 72' and Jeje Lalpekhlua (IND) 88'

The Indians lost against the Kyrgyz Republic and with that our 13-match unbeaten run got broken ... Sunil Chhetri was suspended due to double booking ... Zemlianukhin gave a lead after 2nd minute but Balwant Singh's 2 goals disallowed due to off-side and foul ... In the second half, Murzaev doubled the lead for the Kyrgyz ... Jeje scoread an important goal in the late to ensure India finished the group qualifying engagements at the top with 13 points.