COCHIN, INDIA: India ended their fruitless AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers 2027 by defeating Hong Kong 2-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Cochin on Tuesday, March 31. Despite this win, India ended in the last position of the group with five points in their kitty. They shared the final spot with Bangladesh, who also garnered five points, and had a similar goal difference of -2.
Hong Kong, meanwhile, arrived at this game knowing well that they would not qualify for the main event since Singapore had beaten Bangladesh 1-0 earlier in the day, picking up 14 points in total and securing their spot in the first position. Hong Kong ended the group phase of the Qualifiers in the 2nd spot with eight points.
The Blue Tigers got ahead in just the fourth minute of the game when Ryan Williams made an exceptional run, bypassing Hong Kong’s defenders, and tapped in a weighted through ball from Abhishek Singh Tekcham on the right flank. The home team doubled their lead in the 51st minute of the match when Akash Mishra rose in the melee inside Hong Kong’s box from Rahul Bheke’s long throw, firing in a right-footed shot into the goal.
India conceded in the 66th minute to Hong Kong
However, the hosts conceded in the 66th minute when Braunshtain Barak found space for Everton Camargo away from Bheke and Sandesh Jhingan. Camargo wasted no time in finishing a fine effort past goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. India displayed a lot of effort in this game.
Williams’ goal became the fastest goal ever scored by a debutant for the Blue Tigers, surpassing sixth-minute strikes by K Appalaraju against Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in a pre-Olympics game in 1963 and Mehtab Hossain against Nepal in the 2005 SAFF Cup.
Coach Khalid Jamil also handed a national team debut to Bijoy Varghese. The Punjab FC defender – and local lad – was introduced in the 90th minute, and was responsible for keeping the home team’s lead intact with a sliding tackle. Jamil can take great heart from this victory as he looks to prepare his side for better tidings in the next qualification cycle.
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