The Indian men’s football team were held 0-0 by Mauritius in their opening match of the 2024 Intercontinental Cup in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
In what was head coach Manolo Marquez’s first match in-charge, India kept the lion’s share of the possession but lacked the cutting edge in attack against the visitors, who defended resolutely to claim a valuable point. It was a game of few chances, with only one shot on target by each side in the entire 90 minutes.
India made a patient start, knocking the ball around calmly. It wouldn’t take long to create the first dangerous chance as Anirudh Thapa’ss sixth-minute corner skimmed the back of Manvir Singh’s head and almost fell for Chinglensana Singh rushing at the back post, but it missed the mark.
Mauritius didn’t look too eager to press. However, they pounced on every counter-attack opportunity they got with Jordan François causing some trouble with crosses from the right.
On a couple of occasions, the Indians gifted chances to the visitors. In the 20th minute, a slip from Asish Rai allowed Yannick Aristide to drill a low ball from the left but there was no Mauritian shirt to tap it in. Four minutes later, there was another slip from Lalengmawia as he lost the ball to Quentin Lalsing, who opted to let it fly from 30 yards of which Amrinder made an easy collection.
As the deadlock remained at the half-hour mark, India began to show more urgency, with Asish and Lallianzuala Chhangte’s involvement gradually growing on the right flank.
In the 35th minute, the Blue Tigers finally tested Mauritius goalkeeper Kevin Jean-Louis. Thapa brilliantly picked out Manvir Singh in the box, who took a touch and stung the gloves of Jean-Louis with a left-footed shot from a narrow angle.
Two minutes later Mauritius had their best chance of the first half. Dyllan Collard laid the ball near the edge of the box for Emmanuel Vincent, who blasted a first-time shot a few inches above Amrinder Singh’s crossbar.
India did create another decent chance at the stroke of half-time as Jay Gupta crossed to an unmarked Thapa just inside the 18-yard box. But the midfielder couldn’t control it at the first time of asking.
Marquez hoped to change the dynamic in attack with the introduction of Sahal Abdul Samad and Nandhakumar at the break. Less than a minute after the restart, Chhangte swung a cross from the right and a tentative Jean-Louis required two attempts to keep it out of danger.
Then came the phase of the game where Mauritius got on the front foot, making inroads behind the Indian defence and being more creative. However, India were up to the task defensively, while Les Dodos too weren’t clinical enough in finishing.
In the 54th minute, Jeremy Villeneuve smartly slipped the ball for Lalsing who dragged a left-footed effort wide from 12 yards out. Then substitute Aurelien Francois missed a couple of chances, first heading wide a Gabriel Caliste cross before blazing over a pin-point cutback from Adrien Botlar with his side-foot.
The momentum shifted back to India in the final 15 minutes as the substitutions of Suresh Singh Wangjam and Subhasish Bose instilled more energy in attack. In the 79th minute, Nandhakumar found space to squeeze a cross from the left but Collard hacked it clear before it could reach Chhangte.
Then it was Sahal’s turn to create a chance and he picked out Nandhakumar at the top of the box with an intelligent early cross. However, a last-gasp tackle from Jordan took the ball out of the Indian winger’s feet.
India will next take on Syria on September 9.
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