AFC Asian Cup Day 2 Recap: Jordan & India notch impressive wins as Australia fall to shock defeat

The other game of the day saw a goalless draw between Syria and Palestine.

In a day full of surprises, the AFC Asian Cup served up memorable action in its second helping. First up, Australia fell to a shocking loss to Jordan, a team 60 places below them in the FIFA rankings. It was also surprisingly Jordan's third win over the Socceroos in their last five meetings.

As expected, Australia started the game with much attacking vigour. However, Jordan capitalized on their laziness in defence to earn a shock lead in the 26th minute. A towering header from Anas Bani Yaseen left Aussie goalkeeper Matt Ryan rooted to the spot. Three minutes later, Baha Abdul-Rahman forced Ryan to make a stellar save, tipping over the bar. Jordan proved they were no pushovers.

Watch: Australia 0-1 Jordan highlights 

Should Australia have predicted this onslaught? Probably, knowing how much Jordan have developed under Vital Borkelmans. Aussie winger Awer Mabil struck the post in the second half and created multiple opportunities, but was denied by the bar and staunch defending. Could it have been his day or another occasion? Maybe.

However, Australia must’ve felt robbed when they had two alleged penalties denied due to handballs from Jordan defenders inside the penalty area in both the halves. Would VAR have changed the outcome? Maybe. However, fortunes favour the brave and Jordan, spurred on by their fantastic goalkeeper Amer Shafi, were extremely brave.

In the biggest game of the day (at least for Indian fans), India recorded their biggest ever Asian Cup victory, thrashing Thailand 4-1! A game which resembled the Spain-Netherlands World Cup encounter from five years ago, Thailand enjoyed all the possession, only for India to steal the spotlight with their clinical, attacking football.

Watch: Thailand 1-4 India highlights

A game slightly off two halves, The Blue Tigers roared viciously in the second. Sunil Chhetri completed his brace with a fantastic finish in the 46th minute, Anirudh Thapa got his first international goal by chipping the Thailand defence in the 68th minute, before Jeje Lalpekhlua joined the act in the 80st minute. Teerasil Dangda’s equalizer was almost a thing of the past in the end.

For Thailand fans, the question was did complacency haunt them? Definitely. The War Elephants looked lazy and if they continue like this, they’ll be the first ones to exit the group. For Indian fans, the question is can their team sustain this momentum and create history? Probably, by the look of things. Also, if there’s any unit to break records, it’s this young, exuberant squad. The Blue Tigers seemed hungrier than ever and this thirst for success can be the factor to rally them on.

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The first goalless draw of the tournament was played between Syria and Palestine. A shocking result on its own, everyone expected Syria to begin the Asian Cup with flying colours. However, the tenacity and rock-solid willpower of Palestine got them over the line in the end.

Watch: Syria 0-0 Palestine highlights 

Palestine’s overaggressiveness almost cost them. They picked up two yellow cards and a red, meaning defender Mohamemd Saleh will miss the next couple of fixtures. Could Palestine have avoided this rash display? Probably, but if they did so, they couldn’t have bullied Syria into crumbling. They also created a few late chances, but it was the heroics of Abdallatif Al Bahdari which deserve appreciation. The central defender was an impenetrable wall in the middle, thwarting every attack vigorously, making ten clearances and two tackles.

Could Al Bahdari’s heroics have been repaid by Palestine's attack? Probably not, considering how they were playing for a single point. For Syria, the question would be was their attack too one-dimensional? Yes. They underestimated Palestine’s solidity and kept on attacking in the same pattern, with no creativity or clinical finishing from their strikers.

Also, could either of these teams have forced a winner? Syria could’ve, but they were too lackluster. However, in group A and group B, underdogs India and Jordan sit brightly at the top ofthe table after the first round of games.