Welcome to another edition of Indian football news roundup. Today, we will preview and predict the result of India vs. UAE football match in the group stages of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Mohun Bagan’s win over Minerva Punjab in the I-League, Stephen Constantine’s interview to the press, and the other matches of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
In case you missed out yesterday’s edition of the Indian football news roundup, you can check it out here.
2019 AFC Asian Cup: India vs. UAE Preview and Predictions
India will cross swords with UAE at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on 10th January in their second group stage encounter of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The hosts, UAE, are coming off a 1-1 draw against their Gulf neighbors Bahrain whereas India obliterated Thailand in their previous match.
However, UAE and Thailand are two totally different ball games and, the Blue Tigers shouldn’t treat the 79th ranked nation with the same comfort as the War Elephants. Their coach Alberto Zaccheroni made a huge mistake by relegating their star striker Ahmed Khalil to the bench.
He is expected to start and, his partnership with Ahmed Khalil is something Sandesh Jhingan and Anas Edathodika should be wary about. That being said, the UAE midfielders were largely ineffective in their game against Bahrain and, if the Italian doesn’t change his personnel there, Anirudh Thapa, Halicharan Narzary, and Pronay Halder should wreak havoc.
The UAE team will not be complacent as they were against Bahrain. And, if UAE puts their best foot forward, it could spell trouble for India.
Fulltime predictions- India 1-2 UAE
I-League Live Score: Mohun Bagan pick up a win over Minerva Punjab
Mohun Bagan surged up from two back-to-back defeats to win their I-League encounter against Minerva Punjab. This was the first victory for the Mariners under Khalid Jamil, who came at the helm after Shankarlal Chakraborty resigned.
Lancine Toure brought down Dipanda Dicka inside the box and, the referee didn’t hesitate to point towards the spot. Omar Elhusseiny made no error in guiding the ball towards the back of the net in the 30th minute to give Mohun Bagan the lead.
Mohun Bagan showed no mercy as the match continued and doubled the lead in the 69th minute. Sony Norde split open the 5-man defense with one incisive pass that fell into the path of Dipanda Dicka. The Cameroonian was calm and composed in converting the opportunity into a goal.
Mohun Bagan continued to surge forward, but their effort went in vain as the final scoreline read 2-0. This result doesn’t alter the positions in the points table as Mohun Bagan are sixth with 18 points from 12 matches and Minerva Punjab are a place behind them with 13 points from 12 matches.
2019 AFC Asian Cup: “We’ll go toe-to-toe with them”- Stephen Constantine
Speaking to the media ahead of the much-awaited clash against UAE, national team head coach Stephen Constantine emphasized them the match against the hosts will not be an easy one.
“We know all the three games are going to be very tough. There’ll be no easy game at this level. But we’ll go toe-to-toe with them. A game is not played on paper, but on the pitch. The UAE are the hosts and will be under pressure. It’s understandable they will go for all three points,” said the Englishman.
2019 AFC Asian Cup: Japan survive Turkmenistan scare; Qatar beat Lebanon
In the Group F of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, Japan beat Turkmenistan 3-2 and Qatar beat Lebanon 2-0.
Arslanmyrat Amanow scored an early goal of the tournament in the 26th minute to give Turkmenistan the lead before Japan’s Yuya Osako scored twice and Ritsu Doan struck once to have a two-goal lead. Turkmenistan did pull one back through Ahmet Atayew through a penalty kick but it turned out to be a mere consolation as the final scoreline read 3-2.
The next match between Qatar and Lebanon saw a drab first half with both the sides fumbling in the final third. However, the second half saw a change of fortunes for Qatar as they scored twice through Bassam Al-Rawi in the 65th minute and Almoez Ali in the 79th minute to seal the victory.
