But they missed a flurry of chances with the striking line-up of Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Liston Colaco showing little coordination upfront, underlining the lack of firepower in the absence of Roy Krishna and David Williams.
India captain Sunil Chhetri on Saturday said that he is "fossilized" and the country may not find his exact replacement.
The Blue Tigers raced to a 1-0 lead with the 21-year-old centreback Anwar scoring his maiden international goal four years after his career nearly ended on health grounds.
FC Goa's slim chances of making the semis all but went up in smoke as they remained on 18 points from 17 outings.
'It's about experience. My players were fit, in fact fitter than Oman, but they were more experienced.' Coach Stimac rues India's one-man attack after Oman agony
ATK Mohun Bagan moved to the top of the table and Kerala Blasters FC entered the top-four after the two sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in the Indian Super League.
All eyes were on the 131-year-old club Mohun Bagan as they were making their ISL debut following their 'marriage' with three-time defending champions ATK.
Phan Van Duc (10th), Nguyen Van Toan (49th) and Nguyen Van Quyet (70th) scored for Vietnam to no reply from the Indians whose defenders had a mediocre outing, especially in the second half.
ATKMB looked the likelier of the two teams to take the lead in the opening exchanges, with the Mariners needing two goals at least to make a comeback.
The two teams will go up against each other again on Wednesday for the second leg
Indian centre-back Sandesh Jhingan feels he will be "tested to the limit" while enhancing his game outside his comfort zone at Croatian league Prva HNL.
National football team defensive lynchpin Jhingan left Kerala Blasters after spending six years with the Indian Super League club.
ATKMB dominated the early exchanges and constantly raided the opposition box. However, Odisha did well to close down the spaces and keep things tight at the back.
Behind closed doors and with a raft of health safety measures in place, Indian Super League (ISL) will kick off in Bambolin on Friday and become the country's first major tournament to be organised since the enforcement of a COVID-19 lockdown eight months ago.
National coach Stephen Constantine announced a list of 28 probables on Thursday for India's forthcoming 2018 World Cup preliminary joint qualification match against Iran.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
India lose to Bahrain 0-1, crash out of AFC Asian Cup.
'We are a team who hate to lose, and we have proven it in recent times. We are working as per the plan'
The Indian football team broke a 12-year-old jinx of not winning a match away from home as they beat lower ranked Cambodia 3-2 in an international friendly in Phnom Penh.
Sports Minister hands over trophies to 2020 National Sports Awards winners
Many Indian footballers have improved by leaps and bounds thanks to the exposure of playing in the Indian Super League in the last three seasons.
There is speculation about his retirement and the Indian captain happily responds with a smile that 'I don't know yet'.
India suffered an embarrassing 0-6 rout at the hands of formidable United Arab Emirates -- their heaviest defeat against the Gulf side -- in the second international football friendly in Dubai on Monday.
Star striker Sunil Chhetri is among a 28-strong Indian probable squad announced for the 2018 soccer World Cup preliminary qualifying round matches against Iran and Turkmenistan.
Acting on the Sports Ministry's directive to send nominations for this year's sports awards, the AIFF did not have much trouble in finalising the names.
Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua scored twice as India recovered from a one-goal deficit to thrash Laos 6-1 in one of the biggest ever wins and book a berth in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup football Qualifiers.
Germany's World Cup-winning football team forward Thomas Mueller took to social media to show his support for the Indian cricket team in the ongoing ICC World Cup.
As in their last match against Kerala Blasters, ATKMB struggled to get going initially, while SCEB made some fine attacking moves but lacked the finishing touches.
Up against the 91st-ranked Bahrain, Stimac's side, which is currently placed at 104 in the FIFA rankings, found the going tough from the word go and, had it not been for a fine save by skipper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the Indians would have trailed by a bigger margin at half time.
Indian football icon Bhaichung Bhutia picked Kerala Blasters youngster Sahal Abdul Samad to be the next big scorer for the country after captain Sunil Chhetri's retirement. One of the youngest members of the Indian line-up, Sahal, who made his debut in the 2019 Kings Cup, has impressed coach Igor Stimac and Chhetri with his dribbling and passing abilities.
New Zealand football coach Fritz Schmid, on Tuesday, dubbed India lying somewhere between 'a sleeping giant and a rising competitor'.
Sunil Chhetri likened the national team setup with his home and expressed his relief at returning to where he belongs
The result ensured they ended their campaign on 30 points from 18 matchese. Churchill on the other hand finished with 20 points from 18 matches, their position in the table to be decided on Sunday.
National football team captain Sunil Chhetri and Women's national team striker Bala Devi, were named the 'AIFF 2014 Player of the Year' and '2014 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year', respectively.
Chhetri still takes advice from former captain Bhutia who has a huge influence on him.
A winless India must beat Bangladesh on Monday if they want to jump to third spot in Group E standings and keep themselves afloat for a direct berth in the Asian Cup third qualifying round.
Sunil Chhetri, who holds the national record of most international matches and most number of goals, made it clear that retirement plans are currently not on his mind.
Kerala Blasters missed a crucial second-half penalty kick and had to settle for a 1-1 draw against rivals Chennaiyin FC in the Hero Indian Super League football, in Kochi, on Saturday.
Royal Wahingdoh FC notched up another three points after beating Sporting Clube de Goa 2-0.
Indian football team has turned into a decent home side but it is in desperate need for away games, says inspirational skipper Sunil Chhetri, who feels the next target for the country should be a top-10 place in Asia so that the big guns invite them over.
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