Thousands of Indian fans thronged Qatar’s Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan as the Indian men’s football team went down 0-2 to Australia in their opening Group B match of the AFC Asian Cup.
Goals from Jackson Irvine and Jordan Bos secured the points for the Socceroos as 35,253 were in the stands and mostly backed the Blur Tigers during the match. Every time Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh or Lallianzuala Chhangte got the ball in the opposition third, the stands roared in unison.
Thank you, Indian fans in Doha for your invaluable support, as alwaysWe’ll see you again on the 18th #AUSvIND ⚔️ #AsianCup2023 #BlueTigers #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/DhfqzpNZKZ
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) January 13, 2024
and fans showing their support!#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/23JlHbuDzn— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 13, 2024
An Unyielding Performance by @SandeshJhingan in the first-half of #AUSvIND!Watch the match LIVE only on @Sports18!
Stream the match FOR FREE on @JioCinema: https://t.co/7AEhSpQiZD#BlueTigers #BackTheBlue #AsianDream #AsianCup2023 | @IndianFootball @SuyashU pic.twitter.com/6H7iJY4VLT
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 13, 2024
The fans egged the players on as India displayed remarkable grit and determination in the first half to keep their rampaging rivals at bay.
Australia started strongly, creating two chances in the opening minutes with Aziz Behich shooting wide after he was given time and space outside the box while Mitch Duke could not get his header on target from a Craig Goodwin free-kick.
Against the run of play, India could have taken the lead in the 16th minute after good work from Nikhil Poojary on the right flank created a crossing opportunity that found Sunil Chhetri unmarked but the 39-year-old attacker’s diving header went wide of the mark.
At the other end, a poor clearance by Gurpreet Singh five minutes later as he was being closed down by Duke saw Australia win the ball high up the pitch but the lanky Bengaluru FC goalkeeper recovered quickly to stop Connor Metcalfe’s goal-bound shot.
The Socceroos continued to be on the offensive for the rest of the half but were let down by poor finishing and resilient defending, failing to make their 11 corner kicks count.
Australia, however, only needed five minutes into the restart to find the breakthrough – albeit with a helping hand from Gurpreet who pushed a Martin Boyle cross straight to Irvine who calmly slotted home.
India had a half chance in the 69th minute when an innocuous challenge in the middle of the pitch saw the ball spinning behind Australian custodian Mathew Ryan, only for the ball to roll away.
India’s hopes were dashed four minutes later as 2015 AFC Asian Cup champions Australia doubled their lead with two substitutes working in tandem – Ryan McGree skipping past Subhasish Bose before laying the ball for Bos to tap in from close range.
Australia will play Syria next on Thursday while India will have to rebound against Uzbekistan.
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