NEW DELHI: An inconsistent India lacked the cutting edge as they were held to a 1-1 draw by a spirited Afghanistan in their opening match of the SAFF Football Championship on Saturday.
Star striker Sunil Chhetri found the net on his return from Glasgow Rangers but fluffed a sitter in the second half as India’s hopes of kicking off their campaign with a win went up in smoke.
Balal Arezo stunned the hosts when he fired in a volley from inside the box just four minutes into the match, before Chhetri cancelled out the lead six minutes later with a clean header off a Steven Dias corner.
Afghanistan thereafter, led by the striking duo of Arezo and Sanjar Ahmadi, troubled the Indians with their sporadic raids. Both were aided by wingers Waheed Ahmad and Mohammad Esrafi dow the flanks.
India, on the other hand, were found wanting when it came to wing-play against the minnows.
The normally accurate Dias did manage to deliver some useful crosses from the right but his partner on the left, Clifford Miranda’s performance was below par and that did hurt the hosts, raked 162nd in the world as against Afghanistan’s 178th, the lowest in the eight-nation tournament.
In the second half both sides looked to score the winner. India appealed for a handball by Moqadar Faizullah, which was turned down by Malaysian referee Nagor Amir, leaving coach Savio Medeira livid.
India had a golden opportunity to go ahead 10 minutes into the second half, but Chhetri failed to make use of Lawrence’s cross with his wayward shot. After that it was Miranda again who could not control Chhetri’s lob, allowing Faizullah to make the clearance.
Jeje looked tired and the only time he got a chance, through Syed Rahim Nabi, the striker’s header went wide. (PTI)
