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

Rahim Ali scored the late equalizer to secure a point for India.

Indian Football Team were able to fight their way to a 1-1 draw against Singapore in their third AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifier at the Singapore National Stadium on Thursday.

The hosts took a late lead in the first half through Ikhsan Fandi, and despite dominating the majority of the second half because of Sandesh Jhingan’s sending off, a late equalizer from Rahim Ali enabled the Blue Tigers to go away with a point.

It was a game where the Blue Tigers had to show a lot of resolve to keep out the Singapore onslaught, before some diligent pressing allowed them to score a goal through a substitute.

Even though it wasn’t the best result for Khalid Jamil, it’s definitely a respectable one considering the sheer amount of pressure that India were placed under. Here we look at the talking points from the game.

5. Sly Singapore take advantage of India’s brittle full-backs to cause damage

Singapore had a very clear playing style from the get-go as they seemed determined to continuously move the ball through the wide areas. They probably realized that Rahul Bheke isn’t the most comfortable at right-back and Muhammed Uvais is still relatively inexperienced at the international scene. As a result, the Lions kept on driving forward through the wide areas, moving the ball to their wingers quickly before being able to earn their chances.

Their goal was also because of a long ball catching Uvais out of his position and dragging Anwar Ali out of his position, allowing Ikhsan to score past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Apart from that, Singapore kept on continuously swinging in crosses, and the majority of their attacking moves were from the wide areas. Fortunately, the Indian defenders were able to defend these crosses relatively well to earn a decent result.

4. Farukh Choudhary & Sunil Chhetri fail to impress

Khalid Jamil surprised many Indian fans by deciding to start Farukh Choudhary in the frontline with Sunil Chhetri against Singapore. This was probably forced by the lack of centre-forward options in his squad. However, the experiment didn’t really pan out because neither of the two players was able to make a notable impact in the game.

Choudhary spent the majority of the match trying his best to track back and pressurize the Singapore players, which didn’t really work out. Chhetri tried to preserve his energy for the prime attacking chances, but he was devoid of any proper service in the box. Both players ended up being substituted in the second half, and it was after their substitution that India ended up scoring their goal.

3. Wily Rahim Ali bails India out with Smart in-game IQ

Rahim Ali chose the best possible occasion to score his first-ever goal for the Indian national team. The Odisha FC forward was brought on towards the final stages of the second half, replacing Sunil Chhetri and being placed up-front by Jamil. The India gaffer probably did that, knowing how Ali’s physical prowess and high energy levels can make the tired Singapore defenders nervous.

That masterstroke ended up paying off! Ali was relentless with his pressing and trying to win the ball back in the danger areas inside the Singapore box. He actually almost capitalized on a poor back pass minutes after that, but the striker definitely didn’t miss in the 90th minute.

Ali perfectly read the move to anticipate the back pass from the Singapore player, before brilliantly getting the ball past the goalkeeper to score into an open net. He vindicated Jamil’s faith in him, and his goal also ended up earning a valuable point for the Blue Tigers.

Also Read: Rahim Ali’s late equalizer saves India in grueling away fixture against Singapore in AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers

2. India’s Defensive High Line Falls Flat

In an effort to take the fight to the Singapore team, the Indian backline for this match was relatively much higher up than it usually is. That meant the defenders were allowed to step up forward to force an offside trap on the Singapore players to frustrate them.

However, executing such a tactic is not easy, and the Indian players were found guilty of executing the high-line style quite poorly on multiple occasions. For Fandi’s goal, for one, a long ball caused chaos inside the Indian box because the defenders were so far forward and lost concentration when tracking back.

There were a few occasions in the second half when a long ball allowed Singapore’s players to get into prime scoring areas, with the defenders being outwitted. Jamil will probably ditch the high line tactic for the next few games after seeing how brittle his defenders are when it comes to playing the offside trap or tracking back quickly enough to make clutch challenges.

1. Brave Anwar Ali Symbolizes India’s Grit Under Khalid Jamil

Anwar Ali had a really eventful game for India against Singapore. The East Bengal centre-back was slightly at fault and out of his position for Fandi’s goal, causing him to get into a slight quarrel with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.

However, apart from that little moment, Ali proved why he’s arguably the best player in the Indian team right now. He was really impressive with his game-reading and positioning for the majority of the game, cutting down several major chances for the hosts. Ali locked in after Jhingan picked up a red card, and he was excellent in the final 30 minutes of the game.

Ali came up with a number of huge clearances and blocks, denying Singapore a late winner with some huge challenges in added time. Ali was also pretty good and comfortable with his passing, and continued to bring energy on the pitch. Khalid Jamil will probably hope all his Indian players can be as courageous, decisive, and strong as Ali to get bigger results in these matches going forward.

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