India's challenge falls apart in the second half as Turkmenistan come back to win 1-2 at Kochi

FRUSTRATION PREVAILED in Kochi as India, after starting well, taking the lead and generally dominating the game fell apart in the second half, allowing Turkmenistan to come back from a deficit and steal a 1-2 victory.

In the absence of Bikash Jairu, Cavil Lobo was called up and given a start by Stephen Constantine; and the East Bengal midfielder, charging up the attacks from the back and also coming up to support Jeje Lalpekhlua up front, became the crux of the Indian attack and frustrated the Turkmenistan defence from very early on. Turkmenistan, who were playing without many of their first team regulars, were experimenting with a precarious attack minus any traditional strikers. 

As the game began India slowly took control. Early on Arslan had a header on target but Gurpreet saved it easily. Then Cavin Lobo took a crack at the Turkmen goal that Saparov got rid off. Then Narayan Das tried one of his long rangers that went a bit too high.

Augustin Fernandes made a goof on the right flank when he allowed Arslan to run free for a few yards and take a dangerous shot at the goal but thankfully Gurpreet saved it. But soon Pritam Kotal made it worse for the Blue Tigers by needlessly committing a foul on Arslan inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot and India gave away their third penalty in their second game in 5 days. Pritam got booked and this was just the beginning of a long bad night for him. India, however, came out fine out of this particular debacle when Arslan sent the spot kick wide. India were given a life line and soon it became apparent that they were about to do something with it.

Soon, Jeje Lalpekhlua was brought down just a bit outside the box. Narayan Das stepped up to take the free kick and he curled it right into the sweet spot of the box where Sandesh Jhingan leaped up to head the ball straight into the net. Sandesh got his maiden international goal and India took a lead in the match just before the half hour mark.

Moments later, India got a similar free kick, this time from more close-range. Narayan Das sent it in, it took a deflection off the wall and went just wide. 

Arslan continued to be a threat. He pounced again only to be broght down by Rowlin Borges, who was given a yellow. Turkmenistan continued to attack with Guvanch almost getting the jump on Gurpreet with his sudden forward charge but he got flagged offside... wrongly, it must be said.

Astanov tried his luck too, with a long ranger that beat Gurpreet but missed the crossbar by inches. Then Cavin Lobo, after leading yet another attack, was intentionally elbowed by Bahtiýar Hojaahmedow in a completely unprovoked, off-the-ball incident. Lobo needed medical attention and Hojaahmedow was let off with a warning, for some reason.

India went into the half time with the 1-0 lead but things fell apart very early in the second half. Arslan, who had missed the penalty, made up for it when Duriyev's high cross saw Gurpreet misjudge it allowed him to approach behind his back and head it straight in. Pritam Kotal, who was marking Arslan, was reduced to being a mere spectator as he too was taken aback by the Turkmenistan captain's darting run. It was 1-1 and the visitors were coming back into the game.

Over the next few minutes saw India's passing discipline that allowed them more than 60% possession in the first half fall slowly apart. The players appeared exasperated. The heat was getting to everybody. The occasional drinks break was doing little. 

Cavin Lobo was replaced by Holicharan Narzary as Constantine made a forward push to regain the lead. But his first good chance, a shot from the edge of the box, was completely off target. And it set the tone for India's performance in the second half.

The fresh legs of Seityasen Singh replaced Udanta Singh as the Turkmen players started to regularly overwhelm the Indians with their pace. But minutes later Atayev Serdaralli, a substitute himself, got the ball, got past Sandesh Jhingan and charged ahead. The other defenders tried to counter him but fell all over the place as he evaded everyone and put the ball in the net. 70 minutes in, India's lead and dominance of the game was in ruins. Turkmenistan lead 1-2.

The rest of the night continued in this vein. Narzary's finishing continued to be terrible. Pronay Halder got his usual yellow card. India's third substitution was Rowlin Borges being replaced by Mohammed Rafique; confirming that Sunil Chhetri was to be a spectator from the bench for this game as his colleagues on the pitch struggled to finish the game as the humidity-induced cramps kicked in. 

Seityasen almost got an equalizer for India when he ran in from the wing and let fly on the go but the keeper managed to just about get a hand to the ball and deflect it for a corner. Jeje Lalpekhlua got a chance too, from a Pritam Kotal cross, but shot it wide. Gurpreet made another couple of saves as the minutes wore on, and finally the game came to an end with Turkmenistan winning 1-2.

It was a night of true disappointment; and a defeat that will frustrate Stephen Constantine way more than the loss to Iran. India had the game in their hands. They were dominating possession, attacking well, had the lead. But a defensive error let the Turkmens back into the game and it was all downhill from there. The lack of fitness of the Indian players once again came to the fore as towards the end they were having a harder time dealing with the heat and humidity than the Turkmenistan players, for whom these conditions are supposed to be alien.

So India's campaign in the World Cup Qualifiers came to an end with them losing all matches but one; their win over Guam back in September. But tonight will be remembered as a wasted opportunity to end their campaign on a high note as well as gather some crucial FIFA points for defeating a higher ranked team. The same defensive errors the players committed against Iran once again came to the fore; they conceded through a needless penalty and a textbook marking error. The Indian fans can only hope that the hard-earned lessons from these two games will be applied well in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier Playoffs that India will play on 2nd and 7th June.