IF THE PREMISE OF THIS GAME was fiction, you wouldn't buy it.
A young boy watches on in tears as his national football team goes through a hapless performance, suffering a humiliating 5-2 loss. The boy, a budding footballer himself, vows to one day avenge that loss.
8 years later, the boy is a prominent player in his national team. And in a twist of fate, his team gets a re-match with the same team, on that same caldendar date.
As a premise of a story, it sounds like an overkill. A re-match in the same tournament on the same date? That's a bit much.
Yet, that's the story of Sandesh Jhingan's long build up in his quest for redemption for the whole national team, and it formed the perfect backstory to India's do or die match against Bahrain at the Asian Cup 2019.
But if this was a story, the author would definitely have gone for a happy ending. The India would have beaten Bahrain or at least qualified for the second round, in a symbolic incident that would show that the Indian football team had overcome the shame of the past, and reached new heights.
But this is where the stranger-than-fiction reality took a turn for a more cruel anti-climax as India were knocked out of the tournament due to a bizarre late penalty. One foul in the box ended a billion dreams.
The requirement was simple: a win would not only get the Blue Tigers a perfect revenge for their loss in 2011, it would also ensure a place in the second round for the first time in the modern era of Asian Cup. Even a draw would more or less help them qualify for the next stage. A loss put them on a risk of getting knocked out of the tournament.
The beginning was not smooth, to say the least. Stephen Constantine adopted a defensive posture; starting Rowllin Borges in the central midfield instead of Anirudh Thapa. The game began with Bahrain immediately gaining a slight upper hand; and a stroke of bad luck for India. Anas Edathodika got an injury 4 minutes into the game and Constantine was forced to make an early sub, putting Salam Ranjan Singh into the game. Salam had not played a single minute in the competition until tonight; and he ran into a tough situation immediately.
Sandesh Jhingan and Salam were not in sync and in a moment of miscommunication Sandesh moved to the back of Salam, creating a gap for Jamal Rashed Abdulrahman to shoot a low one through. Gurpreet almost got caught off guard by it; but he saved it, after a momentary fumble.
But Gurpreet's fumble wasn't an isolated mishap; the entire Indian team seemed to be fumbling.
Sunil Chhetri's first touch was off, and due to a dysfunctional midfield he wasn't even seeing much of the ball. Aashique was downright jittery. Udanta was trying his best but often found his runs in isolation with no one running up to give him an outlet. Rowllin Borges wasn't impressive in the middle; if he was given a free role in the midfield, it came off as if he didn't know where he was supposed to be.
Only Pronay Halder with his captain's armband was holding fort, assisted by a defence that slowly found its rhythm through trial and error as the game progressed in the first half.
But overall, it was exactly the attack that India did not need. Redha's cross to Sayed Dhiya Saeed went over the bar, then Rashed got into the action again, gettting past Peitam Kotal and setting up Dhiya in a dangerous position before Sandesh Jhingan robbed him.
The advances made by India were haphazard and far in between. Pritam Kotal's ball to Aashique inside the box was headed wide by the latter. Then Udanta tried to cross one to Aashique but the latter lost the ball to a defender.
Not just Aashique. It seemed the entire Indian team was having trouble staying on the ball. Every single time they tried to string together passes or made a run, they were always either dispossessed or intercepted. Bahrain didn't have a very good time on the ball either, but they absolutely denied the Indians any room to breathe. The Indian backline maintained parity using the offside trap well and Gurpreet was on form; but the support they received from the attacking half in the Thailand game and to some extend even against UAE was absent.
The Blue Tigers held on till half-time; the score was 0-0. India had zero shots on target. Bahrain were clearly dominating.
In the other game of the group, Thailand were fighting hard. The score was 1-1, which meant as things stood, India needed to secure at least one point from this match or they were going to fall to the bottom of the group and get knocked out from the tournament.
Constantine introduced Jeje into the game at the start of the second half. But the few chances India were creating in the first half seemed to taper off as Bahrain increased their intensity.
At the hour mark, Marhoon found Ramhani in the box due to a positioning error by Subhashish. But Sandesh saved the day again. Udanta led a counter but Sunil shot it wide.
But Bahrain's pressure was unrelenting. With about 20 minutes left, they had India in a pickle as Subhashish's back flick was saved by hand by Gurpreet. The indirect free-kick from inside the box did not go in but it produced multiple corners that kept Indian defenders on their toes.
Meanwhile, UAE and Thailand were still playing out a safe 1-1 game.
But it was still enough for India. A draw would still ensure the Blue Tigers a second place. Redemption was only a few minutes away.
88 minutes in, Bahrain got their best chance of the game as Helal headed from inside the box. In a split second reflex, Gurpreet saved it with one hand. It was one of the best saves of the tournament so far. And it was a standing vindication for the immense pressure the Indian defenders had withstood all game and were about to make it all worth it.
And then the Asian Dream shattered. In the last minute of regulation time. Pronay Halder brought down Shamsan inside the box. The referee pointed at the dreaded spot, and Jamal Rashed duly converted it.
And just like that, India fell short. From the top of the table after the first game to the bottom at the end of the group stage. Not even a third place finish; one that would allow them some hope of qualifying for the second round.
It was the rock bottom once again. Sandesh Jhingan's vow to avenge the loss from 8 years ago remained unfulfilled. Instead of redemption, 14th January 2019 became a reptition of history for Indian football; and the old phrases were whispered in the air again... fought hard, tried, gave their best, but failed in the end.
The players were heartbroken. Constantine tried to cheer them up. The fans acknowledged the Blue Tigers as they stood in front of each other, in what could have been a moment of triumph, but ended in utter dismay.
India's journey in Asian Cup is over. Yet again, we failed to go past the first round. We showed promise but failed to step up when push came to shove. And now it's time to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate everything.