Sleeping giant India failed to wake up, lost to Singapore by 0-2 margin.

MATCH STATS

Singapore 2 (Khairul Amri 42',  Fazrul Nawaz 49') -0 India

                 The so called sleeping giant of Asian football once again failed to wake up in the real stage, failed to make a mark in the foreign soil. The homeside won the match convincingly after scoring two goals in the either half of the game. Substitute Khairul Amri scored the first goal just 3 minutes to spare in the first half while Farul Nawaz scored the second just 4 minute past second half.

                 This was the first match of Blue Tigers since the bagged the crown of Nehru Cup in their homesoil. There was a lots of expectation regarding that match under the supervision of new coach Wim Kovermans. India already have a very poor trackrecord in the foreign soil. Everybody expected they will do better this time because this Sunil Chhetri team is full of confidence, experience & stamina.

                 Indian side started the much in their preferred 4-4-1-1 combination while the Radojko Avramovic's side started in 4-4-2 formation with a 4-4-2 formation with Alexander Duric and Fazrul Nawaz in the uprfront.  The Blue Tigers have taken the entire control of the match for first 15 minutes and Singapore was left with the occasional counter through the middle but the visitors defence led by Gouramangi Moirangthem was proving a tough nut to crack. Entire situation turned around for the hosts when Khairul Amri introduced into the ground in the plance of injured Shi Jiayai, he changed the entire climate of the game by scoring the first goal for the hosts utilizing apoor clearance by the defence of the visitors in the 42^nd minute of the game, Subrata Paul didn’t have to anything more during the first goal. The first half ended 1-0 situation in the fore of the homeside.
                  The homeside doubles the lead just after the start of the second half courtesy Fazrul Nawaz. Syed Rahim Nabi was left chasing Mustafic down the left and was not able to stop the Tampines Rovers midfielder from launching a perfect grounder that eluded the entire Indian defence. Fazrul placed the ball into the top corner.
                  Indian coach Kovermans made few substitutions to change the colour of the match, he brought Robin Singh in the place of off-colour Sunil Chhetri but he also failed to make a mark in the national side. The Blue Tigers looks quite frustrated as they couldn't create a decent opening to threaten the Singaporean defence as they went out of ideas. The misery of Indian side could have been extended but the reliable hands of Subrata Paul denied Singapore from scoring another one in the dying moments of the game.

                The Indian side is here to improve their FIFA ranking & for making an impact, it was though before the match that Indian side will beat much superior FIFA ranked side Sigapaore after waking up from their sleep & will improve their FIFA ranking but the tries of rousing the sleeping giant from its sleep goes completely in-vain, unfortunately the giant remain asleep.

Singapore
Izwan Mahbud - Shaiful Esah, Baihakki Khaizan, Shi Jiayi (39' Khairul Amri), Shahdan Sulaiman (89' Hafiz Abu Sujad), Aleksandar Duric (90' Firdaus Kasman), Fazrul Nawaz (66' Fazli Ayob), Hariss Harun [C], Mustafic Fahrudin (75' Isa Halim), Safuwan Baharudin, Juma'at Jantan
Substitutes: Hyrulnizam Juma'at, Joey Sim; Raihan Rahman, Daniel Bennett, Irwan Shah, Jufri Taha, Yasir Hanapi

INDIA
Subrata Pal - Nirmal Chettri, Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, Raju Eknath Gaikwad (65' Gurwinder Singh), Syed Rahim Nabi (82' Denzil Franco) - Sanju Pradhan (Jewel Raja Sheikh), Mehtab Hossain (82' Joaquim Abranches), Lenny Rodrigues, Clifford Miranda (77' Anthony Pereira) - Francis Fernandes - Sunil Chhetri [C] (Robin Singh)
Substitutes: Karanjit Singh, Subhasish Roy Chowdhury; Alwyn George

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