Asian Games 2023: India Play Out 1-1 Draw With Myanmar, Enter Round Of 16 In Men's Football

24.09.2023 - 14:41 sports.ndtv.com

Riding on a Sunil Chhetri strike, the Indian men's football team held Myanmar to a 1-1 draw and progressed to the round of 16 in the Asian Games on Sunday.

They will play Saudi Arabia in the pre-quarters. Chhetri scored from the spot in the 23rd minute but it was Rahim Ali who earned the penalty when he was brought down inside the box by Hein Zeyar Lin.

While Lin was shown a yellow card for his sliding tackle, the peerless Chhetri made no mistake in finding the back of the net, in what was a repeat of the act he performed against Bangladesh in the second group game two days ago. (Asian Games 2023 medals tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule) Coming off the bench, Kyaw Htwe found the equaliser for Myanmar when he headed the ball past Dheeraj Singh in the 74th minute at the Xiaoshan Sports Center Stadium.

However, despite the two teams having same points, India progressed as the runner-up from Group A, as the Chhetri-led side has scored more goals than Myanmar in the tournament.

Football asian games 2023 Asian Games Medals Tally 1 Sunil Chhetri China India Saudi Arabia Bangladesh Burma

India lost 2-4 to hosts Malaysia in the opening match, a virtual semifinal to bow out of the Merdeka Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. Malaysia took the lead as early as in the seventh minute through Dion Cools before Naorem Mahesh Singh equalised for India with a beautiful volley in the 13 minute. A silly challenge from Nikhil Poojary on Arif Amin inside the Indian box gifted Malaysia a penalty and Amin made no mistake in finding the net from the spot in the 20th minute. To make matters worse for India, Faisal Halim increased the score-line 3-1 in Malaysia's favour four minutes from half time.

Men's Football: India Lose 0-2 vs Saudi Arabia, Crash Out Of Asian Games 2023

A formidable Saudi Arabia didn't bring their 'A' game to the fore yet were strong enough to ward off a gutsy challenge from India winning their pre-quarterfinal match 2-0 in the men's football competition in Hangzhou on Thursday. There was no doubt about Saudi Arabia's supremacy as forward Mohammed Khalil Marran's opportunistic twin strikes in the 51st and 57th minute ended Sunil Chhetri-led India's campaign at the continental event. However, Igor Stimac's players can hold their heads high with the kind of performance that they put in despite so much uncertainty and with AIFF sending a second string side due to the obstinate attitude from the Indian Super League (ISL) organisers who refused to release top players.

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India vs Saudi Arabia Live Updates:India take on Saudi Arabia in the Round of 16 tie of men's football event at the Huanglong Sports Centre Stadium, Hangzhou. The Sunil Chhetri-led side began their Asian Games 2023 journey with a 5-1 demoralising loss against China in their first Group A match but managed to comeback strong in their second game against Bangladesh with a 1-0 win.

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Captain Sunil Chhetri played every minute of India's three Asian Games matches so far, scoring two of the team's three goals to lead the country to the round of 16 but having become a father recently, he is also missing his son. The 39-year-old Chhetri and his wife Sonam were last month blessed with a baby boy but he had to leave them behind and attend to national duty. "There is an age difference with other boys. Some of them are really young, we give them space. I and Sandesh are a bit aloof from them. We have young kids at home. I am missing my son and he (Jhingan) is desperately missing his daughter," Chhetri said when asked how he spends time with the team members.