Coach Aloke rues missed chances

Rawalpindi: The young Indian football team was held 0-0 by defending champions Bangladesh in their first round robin league match in the ninth SAF Games on Sunday.

Placed in a tough pool, India were at the receiving end almost throughout the first half but their transformation in the second half was amazing.

India came close to scoring on three occasions, but Bangladesh goalkeeper Firoj Mahmud Hossain denied them.

“We should have won the match by a big margin. Our team depended mostly on Shylo Malsawmtluanga and Jerry Zirsanga but the latter did not click today,” said India coach Aloke Mukherjee.

“We badly needed a win to keep alive chances of making it to the final since we do not know the strength of Pakistan team whom we run into next,” he said.

In the initial pstages of the match, the Indian players were forced to defend their citadel and Gurpreet Singh and Habibur Mondal were up to the task.

Minutes after resumption, Bangladesh had their best chance to score but Mehedi Hasan’s shot hit the crosspiece and bounced back into play.

Then on, it was India who controlled the game to their liking but unfortunately failed to get a breakthrough.

In fact, it was Zirsanga, who was instrumental in setting up two chances inside a minute. On the first occasion, Vimal Periyar was not in a position to tap the ball home and then, none of the three strikers — Periyar, Malsawmtluanga and N.S. Manju — made any attempt to slot the ball in following a misunderstanding.

Earlier, midway through the second half, Manju received a yellow card for a tackle on Ashraful Quader.

India play Pakistan on Tuesday.