The Indian football team was held to a 1-1 draw by Malaysia in an international friendly match in Hyderabad on Monday, failing to open its account of victory this year. This was the 11th match of the year for India and the team failed to register a single win in 2024. During this period, it had to face defeat in six matches and ended in five matches. Paulo Josué scored for Malaysia while Rahul Bheke scored for India in the match played at the Gachibowli Stadium here. Encouraged by the return of experienced central defender Sandesh Jhingan after almost 10 months, India kept possession of the ball for a longer time in the opening minutes of the match.
Four players got a chance to debut
Indian coach Manolo Marquez gave debut to four players in this match, including Chennaiyin FC’s Irfan Yadavad in the starting eleven. This 23-year-old young player was the only forward player in the team but his lack of international experience also cost the team a bit. He was repeatedly failing to dodge the Malaysian defense, due to which the search for the successor of the great Sunil Chhetri for the team continues. Malaysia, ranked 133rd in the world rankings, took the lead in the 19th minute of the match by taking advantage of the disarray in the Indian defense.
संबंधित ख़बरें
संबंधित ख़बरें
Rahul scored a goal with the help of a header
The credit for this goal goes more to Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu than to Josué, who had gone far ahead of the goal post. Malaysian players had no problem in evading him and Josué easily put the ball in the goal post. After falling behind by one goal, India, ranked 125th in the world rankings, intensified their attacks and the team got the benefit of this in the 39th minute of the match when Rahul Bheke put the kick from Brandon Fernandes’ corner into Malaysia’s goal post with the help of a header. Two minutes later, the Indian team got another corner but Anwar Ali’s header went far away from the goal post. The Indian team continued to attack in the second half but the team failed to penetrate Malaysia’s defense.
