22 years after Motiur Munna’s golden goal sent the hosts into the SAFF Cup final (which they eventually won), Bangladesh have only their fourth-ever win over India, as well as their first win in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers group. Shekh Morsalin’s 11th minute goal proved enough as the 0-1 defeat saw India finish, with a game to spare, bottom of a group that involved Singapore and Hong Kong as well.
The preceding sentence is all that matters really – you don’t need to read further. All the criticism of the coach, the players and the tactics don’t *really* matter, since there is no justification for an Indian football team to finish bottom of a group including Bangladesh, Singapore and Hong Kong. A footballing nation with aspirations of becoming an Asian heavyweight (we shall put aside unserious hopes of World Cup competitiveness), simply cannot finish bottom of a group where they were expected to win every single game and coast to Asian Cup qualification.
Instead, Gavin Lee’s plucky Singapore will feature in Asia’s premier football competition in 2027, as India stare at a footballing fate that is simply a reflection of their entire failing ecosystem.
Both India’s and Bangladesh’s fate was already sealed ahead of the game, but it was telling right from the off who it mattered to more. The opening few minutes also revealed which players were playing regular club football, with Bangladesh’s players looking more match-sharp thanks to the ongoing BFL. What criticism could be afforded to India’s group, when the players were unsure of their livelihoods with a domestic league that is still up in the air?
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A win in international football could have provided some salve for India’s footballing wounds. There was even the tantalizing prospect of former Australia international Ryan Williams making his debut for India. It was swiftly extinguished pre-match, as the AIFF missed the deadline of obtaining FIFA approvals for his participation post obtaining the NOC from Football Australia.
Whether Williams, who travelled with the team (and saw that performance up-close) is reconsidering his decision is anyone’s guess, but he only need look at Hamza Choudhury for hope. The midfielder excelled in a first half display that saw him at his combative best – saving a certain goal with a headed clearance from a Lallianzuala Chhangte chip, and even displaying his wonderful control with a touch-and-volley that flew narrowly away from goal. Behind all of Hamza’s Premier League-level quality, however, was a Bangladesh side that reinforced him.
Would Williams (or any potential OCI future) be similarly supported by a system that constantly fails to produce footballers of continental quality? It didn’t help that tonight, Khalid Jamil’s famed caution reigned supreme. For all his pre-match talk of a reset, and 100% commitment, Jamil didn’t go far enough.
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Yes, leaving Apuia (and any Mohun Bagan player) out of his squad was a big call, as was the decision to move on from Sunil Chhetri. However, as the second half proved, Jamil’s decision to stick with a largely similar group that has repeatedly failed in this campaign proved to ultimately be India’s undoing.
Sandesh Jhingan and Rahul Bheke were ambling back as India conceded from a counterattack that began with their own corner. Rakib Hossain left an Akash Mishra with his best years clearly behind him for dead and played in a low cross that Shekh Morsalin was only able to reach, and then score, because Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had a moment’s hesitation. There is the obvious defence – that Mishra would have been a yard sharper, Gurpreet more certain with his movements were they match sharp with regular club football.
And yet, that defence somewhat doesn’t cut muster, because the complete reset that Jamil should have employed from the off – play India’s exciting crop of emerging young talent – came in the second half. Mohammed Sanan came on and his dazzling array of tricks, feints and speed cause Bangladesh all sorts of problems. The excitement that a flick-and-turn to beat his marker caused simply begged the question why Jamil was not brave enough to start a player who was a regular under him at Jamshedpur FC last season.
Along with Brison Fernandes and Mahesh Singh, Sanan lifted India’s football to a level that was not deserving of a 0-1 loss in Dhaka, but that was ultimately the price paid. It was a perverse irony – Jamil’s caution undoing India on the pitch, and the AIFF’s foolhardiness in an unrealistic RFP putting the ISL in danger off the pitch.
There is plenty of analysis to be made, tactics to be questioned, but it simply boils down to the final result. Even if the coach, the players and even AIFF’s officials had the best of intentions, it had only paved the road to a new low – one where India finished bottom of a group that it should have quite simply have won.
