Three things Indian football team must improve for remaining AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers

The Indian football team sit at the bottom of their AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers group.

The Indian Football fraternity received a stern reality check in Indian football team‘s recent loss to Hong Kong in their 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifier. The 1-0 defeat means that the Blue Tigers are now in third place in their qualification group with just one point from two games, having also been held by Bangladesh in their opening game.

The odds are now stacked against the Indian football team side, who will need to be near-perfect in their remaining matches to qualify for the Asian Cup. They would probably need to win at least three of their remaining four group games in compelling fashion and hope the other teams fail in their results to have a chance of qualifying for the Asian Cup.

Indian football team will need to fix some burning issues in their gameplay to outwit their opponents and win the remaining matches. Here we look at the three things that the Indian side must improve to succeed in their remaining AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.

3. Better control in central areas

To their credit, the Indian football team actually held himself really strongly in the midfield battle for the majority of their recent game against Hong Kong. Until at least Brandon Fernandes’ substitution in the second half, the Blue Tigers were an energetic and proactive bunch in the central areas in working hard to cut down Hong Kong’s supply chains and also moving the ball forward swiftly through the midfield.

The Indian football team players just need to bring more consistency in terms of being able to control things in the central areas for them to dominate opponents in their remaining AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. For that, a three-man midfield line is the need of the hour as that gives the Blue Tigers more bodies in the central areas and eases the players’ burden in terms of winning duels in the midfield or moving the ball along quickly.

The more bodies there are in the central areas, the better Indian football team’s chances of progressing the ball efficiently from their backline to the final third. Maintaining more control in the midfield areas can help India assert their authority better in upcoming games and allow them to win matches in compelling fashion.

2. Game Management

The entire game management concept in football is one that potentially seperate the best teams from the average ones. Even the top, championship-winning teams know exactly how to hold onto their leads or drag games into full-time to ensure that they can scrape through vital results. The Indian players proved that they have a severe lack of game management skills in recent games, especially in the defeat to Hong Kong.

Despite not being clinical in front of goal, the Indian football team at least had a chance of fighting through for a draw against Hong Kong and leaving with a point. But towards the end of the game, the players started panicking under the pressure that Hong Kong put them under. They ended up conceding a penalty to lose the game. Be it Manolo Marquez or a potential future head coach, a big responsibility for them is to make the players mentally stronger and make them understand the importance of game management.

The players need to realize how they can protect their lead or at least fight their way to ensure that potential draws aren’t squandered into losses. Be it by maintaining a stronger defensive structure or even potentially using time-wasting tactics, the Indian players need to learn how to control aspects of matches better for them to excel in the upcoming qualifiers.

1. Composure in front of the goal

Indian football team have really struggled to solve their goalscoring problem over the last few years. They have now failed to score a goal in their last three matches, but it’s not like the team cannot create any major chances. Ashique Kuruniyan scuffed a huge opportunity against Hong Kong, while India also had some big chances to win the game in the second half.

Even though fans are understandably furious at the players’ inefficiency in front of the goal, that mostly stems from a sense of nervousness. The players often become nervous when receiving the ball in key goal-scoring areas, causing major indecisiveness and resulting in missed chances. The Indian players just need to be urged to be more composed in front of the goal.

They need to learn how to be calmer when having the goal in front of them and take more time, be it with their shooting or final third passes, to finish things off more clinically. A sense of composure in the final third can help the players shake off their nervousness and score more goals, which is pivotal for their chances of winning the remaining games.

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