Just Four Things: India Vs. Thailand

Credit: Goal.com

Mental Block
It was all going swimmingly well for Thailand heading into the half-time break. They did very well to disrupt the India defense in the first-half and perhaps arguably deserved the equalizer when Teerasil Dangda brilliantly headed the ball in from Teerathon Bunmatan’s free-kick. They were far more creative than their Indian counterparts.

When the second-half started, everything fell apart in pathetic fashion. India only needed one minute after the restart to get themselves ahead again. Since then, Thailand never looked like they were going to come back. They just wandered around near the India box without any conviction and looked like they lost their shape whenever India is about to attack, especially during the counter.

It looks as if they lost their bearings and took a hit mentally that resulted in their poor showing in the end. Take nothing away from India though, they executed their attacks brilliantly and earned the victory.

Chhet That Out!

There’s a reason why Bengaluru FC’s talismanic 34-year old forward has been the icon for Indian football for the past few years. The way Sunil Chhetri takes his chances were absolutely sublime to say the least. His goal-poaching instinct was on point that night and his runs were exceptional.

Pansa Hemviboon & Chalermpong Kerdkaew were given a trial by fire and they failed to contain Chhetri’s influence. His finishing left  the darling of Malaysia, Chatchai Budprom no chance of saving, first a well-placed penalty that put India 1-0 up. He then scored a superb smasher after covering a lot of ground that signaled the beginning of the end for Thailand. If he was not finishing goals, you can see him starting plays. His through pass started the play for the third goal where Udanta recovered from his tangling to lay off the ball for Anirudh Thapa’s daft low chip for India’s third. Overall, a worthy man-of-the-match performance by Chhetri.

C’est Magni-Ashique

While all eyes were on Sunil Chhetri for India, there was another player that also deserves some attention following the match. Ashique Kuruniyan was one of two players to keep an eye out (The other player being another winger, Udanta Singh) other than Sunil Chhetri, according to fellow PBS colleague, Eskandar Azad AKA EA.

No wonder EA rated Ashique so highly. He was tenacious down on his wing and would some times drift into the centre to help out Chhetri or provide attacking options that created chaos to an already unnerved Thai defence. And he even was able to outmuscle the defender whenever he was at the flank. In other words, he was creative in his movement.

He played a huge role in India’s first two goals where his run and effort lead to the penalty and teed up Chhetri’s second. The 21-year old was instrumental in India’s win and there is surely more to come from the Pune City attacker.

The End For Rajevac?

For the amount of talent Thailand has, this result was absolutely embarrassing and the team has tremendously let down their fans who came all the way to the UAE to see them play. As if there is enough pressure on head coach Milovan Rajevac. It seems the Serbian has been unpopular as of late and already been subject to scrutiny for quite sometime. Him applying a pragmatic approach instead of the free-flowing football Thailand is known for has been criticized along with doubts whether he can bring the team to match a much higher competitive environment such as the Asian Cup.

The fact that influential attacker Chanathip Songkrasin was subbed out when Thailand is chasing with 15 minutes to go will just invite more heat to his tense tenure already. The nature of the result though has now started calls for Rajevac to be sacked immediately. But given the direction Thailand may be heading, it will be hard to see Rajevac to remain at the hot seat within a year or two.