They were beaten to a 1-1 draw in an international friendly against Malaysia on Monday, the Indian men’s football team will finish the year without a victory, prolonging head coach Manolo Marquez’s search for his first triumph with the Blue Tigers. Paulo Josue put Malaysia ahead against the run of play in the 19th minute thanks to a howler from veteran goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, but Rahul Bheke wiped out the advantage at the Balayogi Stadium with his header from a corner kick in the 39th minute. With India and Malaysia having won 12 games apiece and eight resulting in draws, there was nothing separating the two teams in head-to-head results going into the encounter.
Even as the visitors tried to calm down, India, ranked 125th, maintained the most of the possession in the early going and attempted to breach the Malaysian defense.
The Indians attempted to put pressure on the Malaysian defense by building from the back with short passes, encouraged by the return of central defender and veteran player Sandesh Jhingan after nearly ten months.
In the ongoing search for the great Sunil Chhetri’s replacement, Manolo gave Irfan Yedwad of Chennaiyin FC his India debut and used him as the only forward in a 4-2-3-1 system. However, the 23-year-old striker’s lack of international experience was evident as he failed to outwit his opponents.
Despite their superiority, the host team let up the opening goal of the game when Gurpreet made a mistake and came off the line, leaving his post open, allowing Josue to touch the ball into an empty net following a clearing from the Malaysian defense.
The Indians remained resilient and searched for the equalizer, which they eventually achieved when Bheke headed in a Brandon Fernandes corner kick. After a long ball from goalkeeper Anwar Ali, winger Lallianzuala Chhangte won a corner on the right flank, setting up the goal.
After the much-needed equalizer, hosts India looked revitalized as the second half got underway.
Similar to the start of the first half, India dominated the game when play started after the interval. Chhangte sent a beautiful cross into the box, and several Indian players were hovering, but the 133rd-ranked Malaysians were up to the challenge and stopped the threat.
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