Kathmandu: Anirudh Thapa found the net for the Blue Tigers in the second half as India came from behind to hold hosts Nepal 1-1 on Thursday in an international friendly at Dasarath Stadium. Both teams will lock horns in another friendly encounter at the same venue four days later.
The ongoing friendlies are a part of the team’s preparations ahead of the SAFF Championships which starts on October 3. The absence of Sandesh Jhingan in the defence was thoroughly felt as India made a sloppy start and paid the price.
Anjan Bista gave Nepal the lead on 36 minutes after he found a lot of space and slotted home with custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu getting off the line. Taking advantage of poor work in the Indian defence, Bista pounced on a loose pass to put the ball in the back of the net.
Head coach Igor Stimac made a lot of changes at the break with Anirudh Thapa and Sahal Abdul Samad coming into their midfield positions, and Seriton Fernandes and Rahim Ali being brought on as well – making their respective senior India debuts.
The move paid dividends straight away as Thapa’s free-kick in the 50th minute caused havoc inside the Nepal penalty box as the ball fell to Sunil Chhetri but he was denied by an onrushing Kiran Limbu.
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Thapa was in action again at the hour mark, who showed great awareness to poke the ball home from close range. Sunil’s fierce shot from 25 yards could only be palmed into the six-yard box by Limbu and an onrushing Thapa was on hand to react quickly to the rebound and score.
“I think the Indian team deserved more, considering we created a lot of clear chances, we gave a silly goal and again we had few good chances. I have a feeling that we deserved more,” Stimac said at the post-match press conference.
The Croatian previously expressed his concern over the absence of a powerful right back after Jhingan’s European move and stated that it is time Seriton gets his chances. The unavailability of the ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC players (due to AFC Cup commitments) during the initial phase of the National camp in Kolkata also hurt Stimac.
“We have only Seriton Fernandes who is new to this team. He was supposed to be with us during the last three qualifiers but for COVID reasons he could not join us but he will get his chance now because we have suffered in that right full-back position for quite a while and we are looking for options,” suggested Stimac.
“Of course, not everything is ideal but I just hope the games will be good. We hope all the players will be fit and ready and hope we won’t suffer due to heavy rain during the game so that we can play some good football.
“We are happy that they (ATKMB and BFC players) had some AFC Cup games so they are all in good fitness condition in regards to others who directly came to us from off season. It is not going to be easy but the boys worked really hard,” stated the head coach.
