Positives & Negatives from India’s historic 1-1 draw against Panama

Ryan Williams scored his second international goal for the Blue Tigers.

The Indian national football team started their series of international friendlies with positive intent as they shared the spoils with Panama. Khalid Jamil’s side drew first blood in the 41st minute as Ryan Williams latched onto a wonderful longball from Akash Mishra to give India a 1-0 lead at halftime. 

A stunned Panama started the second half strongly and eventually equalised in the 68th minute courtesy of a wonder strike from Omar Valencia. The Blue Tigers did have a few chances in the dying minutes of the game, but failed to capitalize as the spoils were shared on the night. 

The Indian players were given a well deserved standing ovation at full-time by the 9000 odd supporters that turned up at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Here are the positives and negatives from the 1-1 draw that India played out with Panama.

Positive: Ryan Williams is the main man for India once again! 

Playing his third game in the Indian jersey, Ryan Williams was the brightest spark in India’s attack as he scored his second international goal. The Bengaluru FC forward started the game well and constantly put pressure on the Los Canaleros backline.

The forward was eventually rewarded for his efforts in the 41st minute as Akash Mishra found him with an inch perfect long-ball. Ryan took on to the opportunity in front of him and stayed composed to slot it past Marcos de Leon to make the score 1-0 in favor of India. 

Negative: India’s attackers and midfielders looked disconnected in transition 

Khalid Jamil played with a versatile formation against Panama, which was a 4-4-2 compact block while defending and a 4-4-3 formation while they were on the ball. Though, the Blue Tigers retained their shape throughout the game, on multiple occasions, there seemed to be a significant gap between their midfielders and attackers. 

At times, Manvir Singh and Ryan Williams were hovering near the halfway line whereas the midfielders were playing a compact low-block to cut off the opposition’s passing lanes. This took out both the attackers from the game and India had to resort to long-balls when they regained possession in such scenarios. 

Positive: India’s defence looked sturdy! 

Heading into the game, there was a lot of talk about Khalid Jamil not selecting Indian veteran Sandesh Jhingan for the games in the Sept-Oct International window. Jhingan was arguably India’s best defender over the last eight years and given that he is just 33, most fans felt the player could still deliver for the national team in their upcoming matches.

However, the Indian defensive quadrant of Akash Mishra, Anwar Ali, Bijoy Varghese, and Abishek Singh stood up to their tasks and put in a wonderful shift against the World Cup participants. Bijoy and Anwar cut out most of Panama’s attack while Akash and Abhishek contributed offensively, making sure to track back & keep their defense compact. 

Negative: Allowing Panama to creep into the game in the second half

Going into the game, it was expected that the Los Canaleros would control most of the possession against India. While India did maintain a compact defensive block, they were also intense in getting the ball back & quick whenever there was a chance to counter attack. This exact tactic was the reason the Blue Tigers got their opening goal of the game. 

The World Cup participants started the second half strongly as they were trailing 1-0 and the drop-off in intensity of the Indian team was quite easy to notice. The away side made use of this and targeted some shots from distance, which eventually helped them get their equalizer in the 68th minute as Apuia failed to stick to his marker. 

Taking nothing away from India’s performance, the Blue Tigers would have to find a way to retain their intensity when they are leading the game in upcoming matches to keep the pressure on their opponents.

Positive: Everyone in the Indian jersey contributed to the result!

As Ryan Williams stated in the post match segment, all the players played their part in the 1-1 draw against the 44th ranked Panama side. Manvir Singh did scuff a couple of chances but the Mohun Bagan player alongside Vikram Partap Singh and Ashique Kuruniyan played with intent and pressed the Panama backline into making multiple mistakes during the game. 

Ricky Shabong and Apuia did their job well in the midfield, while the Indian defense stayed tight and alert throughout. Khalid Jamil’s side seem to have found their DNA, however, it is yet to be seen if they can build on this against tougher opposition like Brazil and Uruguay over the next week. 

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