India 1(Ryan) Panama 1(Omar)
Bibhash Lodh, BS News Agency: With willpower, mental strength and fight, it is possible to beat a strong opponent. The Indian football team showed that on Friday at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. They took the lead against Panama, which played in the 2018 and 2026 FIFA World Cups and is ranked 44th in the FIFA rankings, after initially taking the lead through Ryan Williams' goal, but ended up drawing 1-1. India, which is 94 places behind, played evenly with Panama, and it is fair to say that they kept Panama under pressure throughout the game. The Indian footballers played as if they were going to win the match without any inferiority complex. It goes without saying that the Indian footballers have gained extra confidence before facing the five-time World Cup winner Brazil, ranked 5th in the FIFA rankings, at Yuva Bharati on October 3.
India has not won any of its last 4 international matches. The last victory came against Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Ryan Williams scored a goal. However, before facing Panama, Indian coach Khalid Jamil said that the opponent is strong. Panama's footballers have experience playing in the World Cup. Their coach is also renowned. Even if he asks them to play with that in mind, he will not instruct his footballers to play only defensive football to save goals. Because it is not possible to stop a team like Panama by playing defensively alone. Rather, he wants his footballers to present organized football by combining attack and defense so that Panama cannot sit on their necks.
Khalid's selection of players was questioned after the hero of many wars, defender Sandesh Jhingan and Rahul Beke, were not included in the team. However, Khalid did not listen to that. His clear argument was that it was necessary to reorganize the Indian team to prepare it for the future. And for that, new players should be given more opportunities and brought up. Khalid chose Vijay Varghese next to the experienced Anwar as a stopper to handle India's defense. Abhishek and Akash Mishra as the two sidebacks.
Khalid's decision to play Ricky Shabong with Apuya in a double defensive screen to prevent Panama's attack from getting too close was also correct. Once, famous Indian coaches Amal Dutt and Subhash Bhowmik succeeded many times in stopping the opponents who were ahead on paper and outside the box with this strategy. It was Khalid's strategy that prevented Panama's attacking footballers from becoming dangerous in the first half. Instead, when the Panamanian footballers caught the ball, the Indian footballers chased and snatched the ball repeatedly by playing pressing football. There was no such excitement in the game of the Panamanian footballers who recently participated in the World Cup.
Instead, Ryan Williams, Manbir, and Ashiq Kurunyan attacked the Panamanian half from the beginning and kept the opposing defenders uncomfortable. The Panama goalkeeper had to be busy in the face of their combined attacks. It seemed that India could score a goal at any time. In the 41st minute, the desired goal for India came from Ryan Williams' feet. Akash Mishra caught the ball on the left edge just inside the Panamanian half and lobbed it high and forward towards Ryan Williams. Ryan slipped through between the two Panamanian defenders. When Panama got the ball in the midfield, there was a lot of empty space in front of him. None of the Panamanian defenders were in place. Perhaps they went to trap Ryan for offside. That's why he became a fool. Ryan got the ball and accelerated to the top of the box. Only Panama goalkeeper Marcos Reyes was in front. Ryan entered the box and calmly sent the ball past the Panama goalkeeper and into the net. The decision to give Indian-origin Australian footballer Ryan Indian citizenship and play for the national team was proven in the Panama match. This was Ryan's third goal in the Panama match in the Indian jersey after Bhutan and Hong Kong.
The Indian footballers returned to the dressing room with the satisfaction of leading 1-0 at the break. Khalid did not change his team's style of play in the second half either. His footballers maintained their aggressive play. On the other hand, it is natural for Panama coach Thomas Christiansen to feel hurt after conceding a goal to India. He may have given some tips to the Panama footballers to avenge the goal at the break. Because Panama was seen playing much more aggressively in the second half. Even then, they were unable to break through India's solid defense and equalize. Instead, India's Ryan and Manbir reached the point of scoring the second goal on two occasions. Their goal was narrowly missed. Panama scored a sudden goal in the 68th minute due to the momentary carelessness of the Indian footballers against the pace of the game. Eduardo Antonio, receiving the ball on the right side of the Indian half, extended the ball to substitute Omar Valencia in the midfield. He took the ball and moved slightly to the left and took a high shot with his left foot from 30 yards, which made goalkeeper Gurpreet stand and entered the goal. Apuya did not get any chance to block the shot.
Panama showed extra urgency to get the winning goal after regaining parity, but the Indian defense was alert and the entire team maintained its shape and discipline, so they did not succeed in that goal. On the contrary, despite conceding a goal, Indian coach Khalid Jamil did not isolate his footballers. Instead, he kept the team fresh by changing footballers in attack, midfield and defense. If Manveer had taken advantage of the opportunity to score a goal towards the end of the match, India would have made history by defeating a team that had just played in the World Cup against Panama. However, ending the match with this 1-1 goal is no less an achievement for India. The Indian team will face Brazil in the Yuva Bharti on October 3. If Brazil coach Carlos Ancelotti had seen India's game against Panama, he would have prepared his team with the aim of winning the match from now on.
India: Gurpreet, Abhishek, Anwar, Vijay, Akash (Paramvir), Apuya, Ricky (Aniruddha), Vikram Pratap (Edmund), Ryan (Sahal), Ashiq (Joy), Manveer.