The FIFA Rankings were released on 31st March after the World Cup qualifiers and international friendlies, many teams have gained a lot of rankings while others have dropped or remained the same. India have dropped two places in the recent cycle. India were placed 104th in the world before this have now dropped down two places to become the 106th ranked national in the revised FIFA Rankings.
India’s recently defeats against Bahrain where they lost 2-1 and Belarus where they were outplayed to lose 3-0 have perhaps led to this demotion as they previously won the SAFF Championship heading into Bahrain for the friendly matches.
The couple of friendlies were considered as a part of the preparation for the Blue Tigers as they aim to do well at the Asian Cup qualifiers which are scheduled for June and will be hosted by India as Kolkata has been selected as the centralized venue.
India did not start the friendlies in a positive manner as Sandesh Jhingan handed Bahrain a penalty early on in the first friendly. Bu Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was good enough to deny the hosts an early goal. But eventually, Bahrain got their goal and were the better side by a stretch.
India came back in the game when head coach Igor Stimac showed courage to send in Bengaluru FC sensation Naorem Roshan Singh. The youngster played a one two pass from the corner flag before curling a ball in from the right flank as he found Rahul Bheke in the box who glanced his header right into the net to equalise the scoreline.
It was Naorem Roshan Singh’s debut match for India and he did really well to announce himself and his abilities wearing the Indian jersey. He came on in place of Liston Colaco on the flank and was really good in final third channels.
The second match was a part of learning for Belarus as they regularly play top quality European outfits. India did really well to keep the score goalless at halftime. The Blue Tigers defended with all their might. But they could not hold on to the Belarussian onslaught for far too long as the Europeans score three past Gurpreet in the second half to prove their point against the Blue Tigers.
This tour as preparation for the Asian Cup qualifiers were decent but they will need more matches. India are placed in group D in the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers where they are clubbed along with teams like Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cambodia. It is a group where they should thrive and for that they are looking to play more friendlies.
