Heartbreak in Tehran - India try hard but lose 4-0 to Iran due to individual defensive errors

WHILE THE DEFENDERS, and especially the keeper Gurpreet Singh, did well to hold out against the incessant Iran attack most of the time, a few bad moments and individual mistakes proved India's undoing at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran. The Blue Tigers lost to Team Melli 4-0, two of which came from penalties needlessly given away.

Although as the game progressed the Indian players seemed to get more error-prone, disheartened and directionless, the start wasn't that bad at all. Coach Stephen Constantine nonchalantly handed a debut to Bengaluru FC striker Udanta Singh to be the second striker other than Jeje Lalpekhlua. The idea, obviously, was to play a natural attacking game; like the one they played at Bengaluru in the home leg.

But soon after the match started it became clear that the attacking part wasn't going to turn out well. Without Sunil, Robin and Eugeneson the Indian attack seemed to be out of steam. Early on Holicharan Narzary caught the Iran keeper Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri out of position and let fly but missed the crossbar by inches. But apart from that the first part of the game was dominated by Iran attacking and Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu keeping them out. The first twenty minutes saw him make a number of saves, including a couple of memorable ones to deny Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh. 

But things started go go south right after the half hour mark. Bikash Jairu pulled off a completely needless high boot challenge on an onrushing Iranian attacker and the referee instantly awarded the penalty to Iran. Ehsan Hajsafi converted from the spot. Iran were 1-0 ahead and things were going to get worse very soon.

The scoreline remained the same at half-time but things weren't looking great for India; Gurpreet had made more than a dozen saves already and India had made two substitutions: an injured Aiborlang Khongjee had caused Pritam Kotal to come on while Bikash Jairu, erring and on a yellow, had to be replaced by Harmanjot Singh Khabra.

Early on in the second period Udanta Singh managed to make his way into the final third and set Jeje up for a shot, but the finish wasn't very impressive and the keeper got it. Iran immediately pushed back with a barrage of attacks. Sardar Azmoun failed to score from close range and Gurpreet pulled another great save off a Morteza Pouraliganji shot. Pronay Halder's like-for-like physical play in defending against those attacks was causing a bit of frustration in the Iranian ranks and it came out through Vahid Amiri's rough tackle of him. The referee punished the miscreant with a booking.

But the home team doubled their lead soon. It was from a corner kick that Haji Safi delivered right to Sardar Azmoun who sent it straight in. 

And within minutes, it was 3-0. This time it was Narayan Das with a handball inside the box that gave away a second penalty to Iran. Ehsan Hajsafi converted his second spot kick of the night; all gifted to him by silly errors from Indian players.

India never really recovered after this. Iran kept on making attacks and Gurpreet made a few saves but it was evident that the zeal that the Indian players had started the game with was gone. Alizera Jahanbakhsh scored the fourth goal for Iran as he got behind a long ball and netted it brilliantly. 

Udanta Singh left the ground on a stretcher after a collision with an opponent player. Gurpreet Singh stoically kept making save after save till the last minute. At long last the seconds ran out and the match ended 4-0; and it came as a relief because it could easily have been much worse.

India losing to Iran isn't surprising. A 4-0 scoreline isn't exactly shocking either. But what will frustrate Stephen Constantine and the Indian fans is that at least 3 of these goals could have been easily avoided. The two penalties were utterly unfortunate to give away in a game like this. And the Sardar Azmoun goal - from the corner kick - could have been prevented with a little better marking. The Indian defenders were actually holding up against Iran. Sandesh Jhingan had a great game at the back. And this scoreline does not do justice to that effort.

This loss makes it official: India will finish at the bottom of the group. They will have to earn their place in the next round of Asian Cup Qualifiers via the playoffs, scheduled to take place in early June. But there's still a game left; on Tuesday against Turkmenistan, at home soil. A good result there will go a long way to boost the boys' morale before plunging headlong into the next hurdle, apart from earning a good few ranking points. Constantine has a job in his hands; to help the players shake off this defeat and give their all in their last outing in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers, 5 days later at Kochi.