Kolkata: Akash Mishra’s lone goal in the second half made all the difference as India XI defeated Indian Football Association (IFA) XI 1-0 in a friendly tie at the Salt Lake Stadium on Monday to commemorate the occasion of ‘Khela Hobe Diwas’ – an initiative by the West Bengal government.
While India XI comprised all the national team players, the IFA XI bosted players from Santosh Trophy and Calcutta Premier League. The Indian national team are also currently undergoing a training camp in Kolkata.
Youngster @akashmishra_4 scored the winning goal, as India XI beat IFA XI at the VYBK in an exhibition match at the start of the #BlueTigers 🐯 camp in Kolkata 🙌
IND XI 1-0 IFA XI#BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/c1tVo5zQuW
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) August 16, 2021
Interestingly the match was played in two 25-minute halves, with Igor Stimac’s India XI keeping more of the ball possession and built attacks through the left flank where Bipin Singh played a good game.
Priyant Singh, who was under the sticks for IFA XI, also had a brilliant game pulling off some crucial saves. The defining moment came towards the end when Akash dribbled past a couple of defenders to slot home.
“I am really happy and grateful about the organisation of this game, and we will do our best to have such games like this one. We won’t mind having such matches regularly, and maybe in another 7 days we may think and want another practice game like this,” added Stimac.
The results or performance, however, didn’t have much to offer to the national camp as they didn’t play with much intensity or took risks. “I was cautious about my players not picking up injuries, and wanted to understand how they handled the game. They went into the pitch after a long time, and without much practice,” the Croatian further added.
India have chosen Kolkata for their preparatory camps for the upcoming friendly matches against Nepal and the coach praised the facilities in the city. “Kolkata is a great football place and during the pandemic when it is difficult to find games, this is one of the best places to train,” added Stimac
India will be travelling to Kathmandu later this month to play Nepal in a couple of international friendlies in September. “It is very difficult to organise matches under such circumstances. You need to understand that no one is able to come to India, and if we want to go out to play there are quarantine rules. So the options are very limited.
“We had agreed to first play Libya and Jordan in Istanbul. But the long duration of quarantine in Istanbul didn’t allow us to proceed with the matches. We also looked at other options wherein we agreed to play Nepal and Malaysia in Nepal. But Malaysia couldn’t travel owing to quarantine rules back home in their country.
“Now we need to prepare for the next 12 days before we head to Nepal. We also have the SAFF Championship in October followed by the AFC U-23 Qualifiers — maybe the best option will be to hold on with the U-23 team all throughout October,” he said.
24 players already have joined the camp with the rest of the members who are with ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC are scheduled to come once their club commitments in the AFC Cup get over. ATK Mohun Bagan midfielder Pronoy Halder was the only player who skipped his club duties to join the national side in Kolkata.
The players who will be joining the camp after their AFC Cup duties are Amrinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal, Ashutosh Mehta, Subhasish Bose, Udanta Singh, Suresh Singh Wangjam, Ashqiue Kuruniyan, Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri.
