#TFGtake - imperfect victory reveals India's zealous in-game journey to correct glaring flaws

A WIN THEY WENT looking for, and a win they got. But was that enough for the Blue Tigers?

If India took on Cambodia in tonight's international friendly with the express purpose of hashing out mistakes and getting their 6-month rust off, then the Blue Tigers should by happy; in the process of beating the Kouprey Blue 2-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh - their first international friendly triumph away from home since 2005 - they found enough of rust and mistakes in their own ranks.

To be fair, Constantine didn't really go in with a fully set squad. He started Fulganco Cardozo and Anas Edathodika instead of Sandesh Jhingan and Narayan Das in the defence. Up front, Daniel Lalhimpuia started ahead of Jeje Lalpekhlua. There was a flurry of strikers and too few wingers; CK Vineeth, Sunil Chhetri were all lining up with Robin Singh as the target man but Udanta Singh and Jackichand Singh were nowhere to be seen. Rowllin Borges and Eugeneson Lyngdoh looked lonely in the midfield.

With an almost deliberately unbalanced side like this, things were predictably less-than-smooth in the first half. First off, the Cambodian players, coming into the game with a few changes being made in their own ranks since a hammering from Saudi Arabia and with a point to prove in front of their 70,000 home fans, were outrunning Indian players everywhere. Second, India were easily outnumbered in the midfield and that led to the flow of the game going into the hands of Cambodia. Third, India's right flank was dead. Cambodia made attack after attack up the left flank, leaving our defender exasperated. An early shot from Vathanka was slapped away by Gurpreet but it went to Cheary who had a chance to convert but fired it wide. Minutes later, Vathanka himself got an easy chance to score from a Laboravy pass but missed a near-empty goal and shot the ball straight at an off-centre Gurpreet.

To add to all this, Cambodia were also not given an obvious penalty. The referee failed to spot Vathanka being fouled by Fulganco Cardozo inside the box.

Constantly under pressure, India retaliated occasionally. Vineeth found an overlapping Pritam Kotal who sent a cross into the box but neither Robin Singh nor a pitch-roaming Fulganco Cardozo could get a connect on that. Cambodia moved for a counter and earned a corner which Gurpreet fumbled but Visal failed to tap in from close range into an empty net. It was a wonder how the match went beyond the first 30 minutes with the scoreboard showing 0-0.

India got the first goal. It was pure luck. A corner kick from Eugeneson Lyngdoh was maddeningly missed by Cambodia goalkeeper Um Sereyroth. The ball fell to Sunil Chhetri after taking a deflection from a defender who got caught unprepared for that fumble; the former tapped it in and didn't even celebrate. 

But when the match started again, Prak Mony Udom moved up the left flank and Arnab Mondal didn't even challenge him as he sent in a good cross to Laboravy for the latter to shoot past Gurpreet who looked taken aback by the move. It was 1-1 and India had failed to adapt to the game; a flank that was flawed from the start was finally exploited by the home team. That's where the score stayed at the first half.

But from the first second of second half, a different Team India could be seen in action. Constantine had taken the first corrective step towards the end of the first half by replacing Vineeth with Jackichand. At half-time, he replaced Arnab with Sandesh Jhingan and Daniel made way for Jeje Lalpekhlua. With a more stable defence and a better shaped midfield, India's passing flow was infinitely better. And the results were immediately visible.

Jackichand Singh ran up like a dream, dodging and dancing past 3 defenders before sending a perfect pass to Jeje who directed it straight into the net. 2 minutes later, Eugeneson Lyngdoh delivered an impeccable corner to an unmarked Sandesh Jhingan who headed it straight in. Suddenly Cambodia were all over the place, and India had a tight lid on the game leading 1-3.

But Cambodia kept up the fight. Vathanka who had been causing trouble for the Indian defence finally got his payday just after the hour mark when he found some space just outside the box and sent a low one that was just beyond Gurpreet's reach. Cambodia were back in the game, trailing 2-3 to India. After this incident, Sandesh Jhingan personally took on the responsibility to mark Vathanka and did not let him do much for the rest of the game.

But chances kept coming Cambodia's way. Dina got a chance 30 yards out but instead of passing it into the box he tried a long ranger that went wide. Anas Edathodika's mis-timed header fell to Laboravy who had a chance to knock it in but two defenders threw themselves between him and the net to make the block. Laboravy got another golden opportunity to score; finding himself one-on-one with Gurpreet thanks to a Samouen pass but in the end failed to put it past the keeper who made a superb save. 

But India were no longer looking as bad as the first half. Constantine's subs throughout second half - Rafique coming on for Eugeneson, Udanta replacing Robin Singh, or the courtesy international debut handed to Milan Singh towards the end of the match... all seemed to add on to India's collective strength and by the end, although the defence still seemed leaky and the midfield slower than desirable, the Blue Tigers looked like a side that had something to prove; fighting for a win with the same zeal as Cambodia in the first half.

The spirited contest saw both teams try to add to their tally till the last minute. When the match ended, Cambodia had extended their losing streak to 6 games, but had proved that their new-look young side could well be onto something that may lead them to brigher fortune down the line. India, meanwhile, were left with a win that was far from the emphatic prelude to next week's Asian Cup Qualifier match against Myanmar that they had hoped for; but their journey to fix themselves throughout the match was visible and showed that they were on the right track even if much of the problems remained to be worked on.

After the game Stephen Constantine said that India needed to start the game quicker; but that may have been a result of an unconventional starting line-up finding itself outdone by an opponent that played a much better team game than usually given credit for. 

For the Blue Tigers, this game, despite being significant for the victory it offered them, was nothing short of a warning sign. They have many holes to fill, especially in the defence, before their Asian qualifiers get underway. With the match against Myanmar only 6 days away, the clock is ticking.