AFC ASIAN CUP Blue Tigers eye maiden knockout spot AZMOUN SHINES AS IRAN, IRAQ REACH LAST 16
Sharjah, Jan. 13: A heartbreaking loss after a stunning win dented their confidence, India will still be fired up by the prospect of a maiden knock-out round berth when they take on Bahrain in their final Asian Cup group league match here on Monday.
A draw against the West Asian side, currently ranked 113, will be enough for India (ranked 97) to qualify for the round of 16 for the first time in the continent’s showpiece event after failed attempts in 1984 and
2011. Monday’s match at the Sharjah Stadium, which may turn out to be the biggest night of Indian football after their achievements during the Golden Years
(1951 to 64), is also significant as talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri will equal former captain Bhaichung Bhutia’s record of highest appearances for the country at 107 each.
India had finished runners-up in the 1964 edition in Israel but that tournament was played in a round-robin format comprising four countries with the winners being decided on the basis of points collected in the league.
There was not a single knock-out match in that edition. But even a defeat on Monday may still see India (3 points from 2 matches) through to the knockout round as one of the four third-placed teams if hosts United Arab Emirates (4 from 2 matches) beat Thailand
(3 from 2 matches) in Al Ain in the other Group A match to be played simultaneously.
Four third-placed sides from the six groups of four team each will also advance to the knock-out rounds, along with the top two countries.
Under the competition rules of the Asian Cup, if two teams end their group stage engagements on equal points, the ranking will be decided first on the basis of head to head result. So, if both Thailand and India lose their matches on Monday, India will end at third as they have defeated the War Elephants 4-1 in their opening match. But the Stephen Constantine side cannot lose to Bahrain — to whom India lost 2-5 in the 2011 Asian Cup — by a big margin as goal difference will get the first preference while deciding which team makes it to the Round of 16 among third place sides of equal points.
In Groups C and D, two bottom-placed teams have not yet opened their accounts after playing two matches each and they have minus goal difference as against India’s plus one. Courtesy, the stunning win against Thailand has shown that India are no longer an ‘also ran’ side and the second match against the UAE — though lost 0-2 — strengthened the thought that this side can hold onto their own without fear and take the game to the opposition, unlike the teams of the past.
Luck also eluded India in the match against UAE as the woodwork denied them on two occasions while Ashique Kuruniyan and Chhetri had the goalkeeper at their mercy but failed to beat him. Abu Dhabi, Jan. 13: Back-from-retirement Sardar Azmoun fired Iran into the Asian Cup knockout phase on Saturday as Carlos Queiroz’s side reached the last 16 along with arch-rivals Iraq, with Saudi Arabia on the brink of joining them.
Azmoun, 24, quit the national team after fans rounded on him following Iran’s exit at last year’s World Cup, but he was the toast of Tehran once again with both goals in a 2-0 win over Vietnam. Saudi Arabia beat Lebanon 2-0, while teenager Mohanad Ali inspired 2007 champions Iraq to a 3-0 win over Yemen.
Iran and Iraq, with four titles between them, joined already qualified South Korea, China and Jordan as the round of 16 began to take shape.
Queiroz singled out Azmoun after the Rubin Kazan forward’s double made him the tournament’s top scorer with three goals, and gave Iran a record ninth successive first-round victory.—