AFC Asian Cup: Sunil Chhetri Says India Have 'Improved a Lot But There’s a Lot to Learn'

The Indian men’s football team faced their second consecutive defeat at the AFC Asian Cup, losing to Uzbekistan 0-3 at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Thursday.

This was India’s second successive defeat in Group B, having started their campaign with a 0-2 loss to title contenders Australia, in which their spirited performance earned them plaudits.

However, against the central Asian nation at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Blue Tigers’ performance was a far cry from their display against the Socceroos, a FIFA World Cup regular.

Uzbekistan scored through Abbosbek Fayzullaev (4th minute), Igor Sergeev (18th) and Nasrullaev (45+3) to register their first win in the competition after being held to a stalemate by Syria in their tournament opener.

Despite being held to a draw by Syria in their opening match, Srecko Katanec’s side revived their hopes of qualifying for the next round. However, this outcome dealt a significant blow to India’s chances of advancing. After the valiant performance against the mighty Australians, the Blue Tigers went into the game against a battle-hardened Uzbek side to express themselves and try to play the game in a manner that is more becoming to their beautiful fans.

For skipper Sunil Chhetri and the boys, matches like these against the big teams of Asia remain a humbling yet learning experience.

“We’ve improved a lot in the last five years, but there’s a lot to learn, especially when you play teams like these. It’s not easy when you face teams like Uzbekistan and Australia,” said the India captain.

“The good thing is that the boys gave us whatever we had. We made some mistakes in the first half that cost us dearly. We now need to go back and watch the replays and figure out the areas where we need to improve,” said Chhetri.