'We must think positively,' Khalid Jamil after India's late escape against Singapore

Rahim Ali scored a late equalizer to give India a point.

Indian football team worked hard to fight their way to earn a 1-1 draw against Singapore in their third match in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on Thursday .

Despite going behind through Ikhsan Fahadi’s goal in the 45th minute and seeing Sandesh Jhingan sent off in the second half, the Blue Tigers fought hard to get a point thanks to Rahim Ali’s equalizer in the 90th minute.

After the game, Khalid Jamil seemed to be pleased to see his side earn the point and hailed his players’ efforts in getting this draw with 10 players, stating: “I give all the credit to the boys, they worked very hard and because of them we got this result. We have another game in a few days at home, and we must prepare well to get a positive result from that clash.

“We deserved to have a goal”

“It’s tough to play the away games with 10 players, and to get a point from that makes this an advantageous result for us. We must continue with this kind of confidence going forward. In the second half, we played better with 10 men than we did with 11 players. We deserve to have a goal because if you work hard, you can be luckier. We worked hard, and we didn’t get a lucky goal because Rahim tried and worked hard to get it. We must think positively,” he added.

When asked about Sandesh Jhingan’s red card hurting India and if it was risky to play him because of his facial injury, the gaffer replied: “He is among our most important players. We’ll go home and recover and try to find another solution.

Also Read: Singapore vs India: Rahim Ali’s rescue act, defensive lapses, and other talking points from AFC Asian Cup Qualifier

“He’s going to be getting more recovery time (for his injury) as he got a red card today. It’s not a risk to play him because he played for FC Goa in the AFC Champions League Two clash before this game,” he further quipped.

Jamil also praised Singapore’s efforts in the game, as he stated: “They were energetic and I told you that they are a good team. They know that they’ve lost two points here and they will be more prepared for the next game. For us, it’ll be a home ground and we must be prepared very well too.”

Jamil wants players to think positively

Finally, the India head coach urged for more positivity among his players heading into the next game against Singapore, as he stated: “We must belief that we can win. I feel that we must have positive thinking, and anything can happen in football. We are thinking about the next game, which is more important, and then we’ll see later (about qualifying for AFC Asian Cup),” he finished off with.

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