India began their tournament with a big 1-5 defeat against China on Tuesday. This makes it harder for them to reach the next round. India must win their games against Bangladesh and Myanmar (on September 24). They also need to score more goals than their opponents.
The two best teams in the group and the four best third-place teams out of the six groups will move on to the Round of 16.
India played against China without getting ready or having enough rest, and there was a lot of confusion about the team they would use. Even though Rahul KP scored a goal in the first half to make it 1-1, China was much better in the game. They could have scored more goals if they hadn’t missed some opportunities.
“Our team here is not our first choice. I wish we could play China with our best players. Then the game would be very different. But the players we have here are heroes,” said India’s head coach, Igor Stmac.
“They faced a lot, like travel issues, arriving here very late, and not having enough time to rest. But they did well in the first 45 minutes.”
“I was being practical and knew it was unlikely to get a tie in the match. We didn’t have any substitutes on the bench except for the three players we had, so we couldn’t make any tactical changes. We couldn’t change how the game was going in the second half,” he added.
Also, on Thursday, the Indian women’s soccer team will start their tournament by playing against Chinese Taipei.
India vs. Bangladesh starts at 1:30 p.m.
India vs. Chinese Taipei starts at 5 p.m.
Pioneer and Underdog: Jyoti Chouhan is Ready for Her Debut at the Asian Games for India.” “First Goal: She chased after the ball that bounced back from her shot, used her toe to poke it away from the nearby defender, faked a shot to make the goalkeeper dive, then went around her and calmly put the ball into the empty net.
Second Goal: She sprinted to catch a pass from a long kick, left her opponent behind with her speed, and coolly scored by slipping the ball beneath the goalkeeper.
Third Goal: While running, she lifted a cross using the outside of her right foot and then hammered an amazing shot from that difficult angle into the top of the net.
By itself, this sounds like an impressive hat trick, doesn’t it? What makes it even more remarkable is that it was scored by an Indian player, playing in Europe. Yes, you heard that right, an Indian soccer player scoring a hat trick in a top European league?
Meet Jyoti Chouhan from Sardapur, Madhya Pradesh, and HNK Dinamo Zagreb. Last season, she achieved this feat, making history as the first Indian to score in a European Cup final. As a result, she has earned her first call-up to the Indian national team for the Asian Games.
Team Profile
Latest entries
