King’s Cup 2023: India press panic button at the death to lose against Iraq | Football News

Just 11 minutes separated India from a famous upset victory over Iraq in the King’s Cup semifinal at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Thursday. Despite winning three tournaments this year, a win over Iraq – ranked 70th in the world – would have been their biggest scalp in recent times. But the script went awry at the end.
Against all odds, India snatched a 2-1 lead. But in the 79th minute, India’s mainstay central defender Sandesh Jhingan needlessly wrestled Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein to the ground inside the box to concede a penalty, which the latter calmly slotted past the towering Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to take the match into penalty shootouts.
India’s night went from bad to worse. Brandon Fernandes missed the opening penalty, which proved costly as Iraq won the shootouts 5-4 to advance to the final of the invitational knockout tournament. The result of the match is largely inconsequential though, as the priority for coach Igor Stimac was to duel with challenging opponents to ready them for tougher tests ahead. The Blue Tigers play the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 Fifa World Cup in November but their eyes will be on the all-important AFC Asian Cup in January, their biggest tournament in the foreseeable future.
But Stimac will be quite pleased with what he saw on Thursday. Despite being without the talismanic Sunil Chhetri — who opted out of this tournament following the birth of his first child — and the fiery young winger Lallianzuala Chhangte, who didn’t make the starting XI because of a fever, India looked menacing with and without the ball.
It’s the calmness they showed while defending against a potent attack that will please Stimac the most and he will be delighted with the gumption they showed when counterattacking too. A phenomenal team counterattacking produced the opening goal.
Wonder goal
While Iraq had most of the possession in the opening 15 minutes, India weren’t sitting back. They kept pressing, trying to force an error. When they did get possession in the 17th minute, they launched a counter with the quick-footed Shawl Abdul Samad playing a brilliant through ball to 24-year-old Mahesh Singh, who smartly beat the offside trap to receive the ball. Having made a move from the right flank to the left, Mahesh managed to fox the centre-back and then slot the ball into the net at the near post, leaving the goalkeeper no chance.

#49thKingsCup2023 🏆 battle: Fey India 🇮🇳 pay the penalty in shoot-out against Iraq 🇮🇶
Match Report 👉🏼 https://t.co/FAk7fGyBQu#IRQIND ⚔️ #BlueTigers 🐯#IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/HFGLrcXdUr
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 7, 2023
Iraq, which has most of its players playing in top European leagues, looked flummoxed, possibly wondering how a team ranked 97th in the world could counter so swiftly and with such precision. After conceding, Iraq upped the ante, practically playing in India’s half. It didn’t take them long to draw level though India will be furious with the way they conceded the goal.
Iraqi midfielder Bashar Rasan unleashed a rather ambitious attempt from outside the box. It hurt Jhingan’s arm and the referee had no choice but to point to the spot. The 21-year-old Ali Al-Hamadi, who plays for English Championship side AFC Wimbledon, drilled it to the left bottom corner past Gurpreet, who guessed correctly but couldn’t get a touch.
Iraq looked even more comfortable and it seemed like it was just a matter of time before they took the lead but India’s defence was unrelenting. Frustrated at what he was seeing, Iraq coach Jesus Casas made three attacking changes, even bringing on Zidane Iqbal, the former Manchester United wonder-kid, who now plays for Dutch top-division side FC Utrecht. Iraq were more direct with their play, floating in balls into the box as the Indian defence struggled to handle their physicality.
Casas’s men were shocked again as India managed to take the lead for the second time in the match courtesy of a howler from Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hasan. In the 51st minute, a slip Hussein gave India possession in the opposition half with Sahal picking out Manvir Singh on the right flank. Manvir, who did well to get into space to receive the ball, played it to the overlapping Akash Mishra. The Mumbai City FC left-back tried to square it into the box but luckily for him and India, it bounced off Hasan’s hand and into the back of the net.Most Read
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Plenty of positives
While Gurpreet didn’t manage to save even a single of the seven penalties he faced against Iraq, he commanded his area well, thwarting at least three goalscoring chances. Though India will play only their third-place match, there are plenty of positives that Stimac can take from the game. They combined upfront superbly, defended tactically, and just didn’t give their opponents any breathing space, showing they are ready to take on Asian heavyweights.
That too with little training together. Since the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs only released their players in the FIFA window, India barely had a couple of training sessions before such a high-intensity match. In the all-important AFC Asian Cup, they are drawn against Australia, Uzbekan, and Syria. One can wonder how much better the team can perform if Stimac gets his wish for a longer camp.