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.
Influential skipper Sunil Chhetri has been ruled out of India's World Cup qualifier against Iran owing to a groin injury, dealing a body blow to the beleaguered outfit's prospects of putting up a fight. The match for Russia 2018 World Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 is slated to be played in Tehran on Thursday. A 22-member team on Monday left for the forthcoming game. Six players from the list of 28 probables, including injured striker Chhetri, didn't travel with the squad. "We had to take some bold decisions and we have to travel to Tehran without our influential captain Sunil Chhetri," national coach Stephen Constantine said. "He will be badly missed." Chhetri has been ruled out following a groin injury which he had picked up in the I-League.
The former India football captain said the onus is on the strikers to deliver against Bangladesh on October 15 in Kolkata.
Defending champions India held their nerves to beat Lebanon in the penalty shootout and set up a title clash against Kuwait.
Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Here are some of the controversies, which cast a shadow on Indian sport as the athletes prepared for the Asian Games.
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.
Chennaiyin FC lifted their game to a level befitting the occasion and sent fancied Bengaluru FC crushing to a painful 2-3 defeat, clinching the Indian Super League title in style, in Bangalore, on Saturday.
India suffered one of its most embarrassing defeat in recent years despite Sunil Chhetri's 94th international goal in his 150th match.
Adil Khan ensured that India at least secure a point from the home match
India are virtually knocked out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying round after losing 0-1 to Oman, in Muscat, on Tuesday.
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.
FC Goa took the lead through Igor Angulo (20th minute) and Redeem Tlang (23rd) before Suresh Wangjam (33rd) reduced Bengaluru's deficit.
India remained winless in their qualifying campaign so far.
Needing to overturn a 0-1 first leg defeat in their away match on September 27, Bengaluru conceded a goal in as early as the fourth minute when Nuriddin Davronov converted a penalty, to put the Tajikis 1-0 up.
Striker Ferran Corominas scored the first hat-trick of the season as FC Goa beat 10-man Bengaluru FC 4-3 in a thrilling match of the Indian Super League in Margao on Thursday.
A gritty India survived waves of attacks from Qatar to hold the reigning Asian champions to a goalless draw to steal an unexpected point from their away match of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
'We have played just two matches, and we have played well, that too against two powerful teams. It gives us that added motivation and confidence that in football, anything is possible'
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.
India captain Sunil Chhetri on Saturday said that he is "fossilized" and the country may not find his exact replacement.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday.
Stimac had said he would need at least a four-week camp to do well in the Asian Cup while the All India Football Federation (AIFF) top brass had indicated that his demand would be difficult to meet as the clubs may not agree to release their players for such a long period in the midst of the domestic season.
Olympic medallist Vijay Kumar has missed out on a berth in his pet event - rapid fire pistol - for the upcoming Asian Games, but is still part of the 43-member squad, which will be spearheaded by shooting ace Abhinav Bindra.
The first meeting of the season between Hero Indian Super League heavyweights finished all square after FC Goa and Bengaluru FC shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw, in Margao, on Monday.
Sunil Chhetri, playing in his 121st international in the SAFF Championship, struck in the 27th minute to place himself just a goal shy of legendary Brazillian Pele (77 goals from 92 matches).
Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who is competing in his fifth Games, led the Indian contingent at the parade of nations during the Open Ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Friday night.
Playing with ten debutants, India came back strongly in the second half to eke out a draw in their first international game since the COVID-19 lockdown last March.
Though Kerala Blasters battled valiantly, Chhetri scored the winner with a brilliant header in the 55th minute to preserve his side's unbeaten record in the ISL.
Sunil Chhetri likened the national team setup with his home and expressed his relief at returning to where he belongs
The Punjab police on Friday claimed to have busted an ISI-backed terror module jointly handled by Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Rinda with the arrest of two of its operatives.
AFC Cup semi-finalists East Bengal suffered a jolt ahead of their big match next week as they were beaten by former champions Dempo 3-1 in Kalyani on Thursday.
Sunil Chhetri, who will complete 15 years in international football on June 12, is India's highest goal-scorer with 72 strikes from 115 matches. He is the second highest goal-scorer in international football in the world among active players behind Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentine maestro Lionel Messi.
Oman made a late comeback to defeat India 2-1 in the opening Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Thursday.
India a step closer to 2019 Asian Cup
With one point from the match, the Highlanders are placed joint second with ATK Mohun Bagan on 10 points
National football coach Stephen Constantine named 32 probables on Wednesday for India's upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup joint qualification Round 1 home and away matches against Nepal. India first host Nepal on March 12 at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in Sajusarai, Guwahati, while the return leg is slated to be played in Nepal on March 17.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party's first-timer and an eye surgeon from Bhadaur and Chamkaur Sahib seats, respectively.
Chennaiyin FC stand in the way as Bengaluru FC, the model club of Indian football, seek a triumphant conclusion to what has been a remarkable maiden campaign in the Indian Super League, in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Only Sandesh Jhingan, who led the side, Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose retained their places, but India still won the match through a 17th minute strike from midfielder Anirudh Thapa in the third-place match at the Thunder Castle stadium.
Roy Krishna scored inside five minutes to give the Blues an early advantage but Prasanth Karuthadathkuni scored at the stroke of half-time to restore parity.
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