Highlights - Seiminlen Doungel Scores Late As India Salvage Point vs Afghanistan

Good Evening and welcome from Delhi! If you’re not in Delhi, you’re very very lucky, because there isn’t much welcoming here. Fortunately the Indian team aren’t. They are in Dushanbe. 

Here's how the #BlueTigers ? will line up for tonight's game! ??

Kick-off is exactly one hour away ⏳?#AFGIND ⚔ #BackTheBlue ? #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/0JF6jA1utI

— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) November 14, 2019

The #BlueTigers are ready to roar! ?

Let's #BackTheBlue ?#AFGIND #IndianFootball #WCQ #AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/h6rmpHonFL

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) November 14, 2019

If you have watched our match preview, the 420 Grams episode, you know that everyone was concerned about India’s severely depleted back line. Well, Stimac has managed to magically get one of those stalwarts fit and into the XI!! Adil Khan is starting. And so is Pritam Kotal. Now Kotal can play in the centre, but it is more likely that Rahul Bheke will be partnering Adil seeing as that has happened before in Stimac’s tenure.

More importantly. Most importantly. Pronay Halder is back and he’s stationed as the sweeper at the top of that back line.

Two draws and one loss. Sounds like a good haul from the first three games right? Wrong. Not because of the results, well a little bit because of the results. Mostly because of who they drew against and the dull manner of their play in that draw. But no point recalling that. Let’s look forward.

We are all set for action. The sides are in the middle.

While we wait for kickoff there’s a good bit of news for fans of the I-League. The upcoming season of what used to be India’s national league will be broadcast on DSport, the sports channel run by the Discovery network. It seems Minerva Punjab owner Ranjit Bajaj was a key player in securing the deal. In a press release that came round earlier this evening Bajaj was quoted saying, “I am really glad that my efforts to get Dsport as the official broadcasting partners and Instat sports, a Russian based stats and analytics company to provide best production and interface experience has finally come through. The association with Dsport is going to mark a new era for football Enthusiasts in India. I am personally very glad to have Dsport as the official broadcasters for ILeague this season and it's a win win situation for us as owners of the clubs as we finally made our fans watch the matches live and for the official broadcasters who can now have commercials involved in the upcoming seasons (sic).”

That match kicks off. It is fair to say the Afghans are making a lot of noise in the stadium. The Manjappada fans are also there. And in good numbers too. 

The three officials for today’s game are from Chinese Taipei. The Indian coach is sporting a nice looking jacket, and we have kicked off. Erm. The visibility is low.

1’ India are passing the ball around deftly but mostly between their back line. The pitch is nice and quick. The ball is zipping.

2’ Afghanistan have made clear what they plan to do. They have already played a couple of long balls and are sitting deep, asking India to commit men forward.

5’ Udanta drops a cross in from the right. Its good and deep into the box. The Afghan defender takes a loose touch but is awake to Chhetri lurking and clears it away. India holding the ball a lot, and passing it around fairly deftly. Mandar brings down Omid Popalzay on the right, but the referee waves play on. Meanwhile Popalzay is off for some medical attention.

7’ Everyone in our live booth studio is marvelling -- and also slightly worried -- at the speed at  which the ball is travelling on the surface. The bounce is truer, the skid is more real. Finally Siddhanth Aney says, “Hopefully we won’t give away a penalty!”

Brandon’s biggest quality is his speed of thought. Always forward thinking as well.

-- Arjun Pandit

9’ The noise in the stadium is incredible. India have given away a cheap corner. From which Afghanistan deliver deep in, Adil clears but the follow up ball is driven in again. Gurpreet comes out and gathers. Not too long after, he is forced to come off his line again, this time after Adil’s clearance ricochets onto the path of an Afghan attacker.

10’ Popalzay the aforementioned recipient of a rough tackle went down in the India box holding his hamstring. That’s his game done no doubt. And he duly comes off.

12’ Brandon finds Pritam with a superb cross-field ball to the right. The defender can’t bring it down though. Meanwhile, Popalzay has been replaced by Adam Najem. Najem is Afghan-American and has played for the New York Red Bulls

15’ Another corner for Afghanistan and this time there’s some trouble. The first attacker knocks it down, and then as Gurpreet rushes forward it is headed up in the air again. Adil clears.

16’ Mandar brings down Najem near the right corner of the box. Freekick Afghanistan. Dangerous area but cleared

Tajikistan and Afghanistan share a 1,300 kilometre border that is mostly porous. The vast majority of refugees and asylum-seekers living in Tajikistan are Afghans. The UN refugee agency estimates the number of refugees was as high as 12,000 back in the year 2000. Since then, many have either been resettled or have returned to their homeland. However, Tajikistan is also home to several thousand stateless individuals, many of whom are believed to come from across the border in Afghanistan. This is not a random history/geography lesson, but meant to explain why Afghanistan are playing in Dushanbe and so well supported tonight.