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Thailand's Panupong Wongsa (L) and India's Sunil Chhetri fight for the ball
© AP Images |
Bob Houghton’s men suffered a slender 1-0 loss at the hands of Thailand in their first International friendly after their Portugal tour at the Nanthaburi Stadium in Bangkok on Saturday.
The hosts started the match aggressively with several runs inside the opponents half and were looking strong. Bryan Robson’s side came close to breaking the deadlock as early as the 4th minute, however Teerasil Danda’s shot was saved by the cross bar.
The Indian’s fought back and got their first real chance to go ahead in the 22nd minute, but Surkumar Singh’s right-footed effort was saved by the fingertips of the Thai goalkeeper. Meanwhile, the Indian defense kept their cool and showed immense composure as they prevented the home side from scoring in the first half.
Thailand had the majority of the ball in the first half, but the final 15 minutes of the period belonged to the Indians as they refused to give up and created havoc amongst the Thai defense. This was highlighted when striker Sunil Chhetri’s shot hit the upright off a Steven Dias free kick at the blow of the whistle as the teams went into the break with the scores level at 0-0.
The men in blue looked much stronger after the break and came close on a few occasions with debutant Mohammed Rafi’s shot being blocked in the 68th minute. However it was Thailand’s prolific striker Sarayoot Chaikumdee who broke the deadlock and put the hosts in front in the 73rd minute which eventually proved to be the winning goal.
The two teams now meet on September 8 at the Dr Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi for the second friendly and the Indians would be looking to settle the score on their home turf.