Intercontinental Cup Playe Ratings: Chhetri the standout in India's disappointing collapse against New Zealand

The Blue Tigers took the lead early in the second half only to throw away the advantage and fall to their first defeat of the tournament.

India lost their first match of the Intercontinental Cup and were beaten by New Zealand 1-2 at the Mumbai Football Arena on Thursday. Despite taking the lead through Sunil Chhetri, the Blue Tigers failed to contain the All Whites and were overwhelmed in the end.

Here are the player ratings for the game.

India

Amrinder Singh- 6.0

The Mumbai City man was forced to put in a difficult shift and did so pretty convincingly. Singh made some pretty good saves, but could’ve done better to save the winner.

Pritam Kotal- 6.0

Kotal had the tough job of containing Sarpreet Singh, but did pretty well to try and phase him out of the game. He was especially good at defending set-pieces and produced a decent performance on the right. 

Subhashish Bose- 6.0

Bose continued proving his defensive prowess with another compelling showing at the back. Despite being paired-up with an inexperienced partner, he showed impressive calmness and produced another typical aggressive performance to contain he opposition strikers. Howeever, he should have done better to stop the second goal.

Salam Ranjan Singh- 5.0

The young defender struggled against Myer Bevan and was also at fault for not tracking the run of Andre de Jong for the equalizer. He also did himself no good with a poor performance and making terrible errors every now and then.

Narayan Das- 4.5

Das struggled against the firepower on his wing and often got tricked by the New Zealand attackers. He allowed them to get past him and create dangerous moves and got unnecessarily booked.

Rowllin Borges- 6.0

Borges was given a run and had a very topsy-turvy game. He used his physical prowess to his advantage and won back the ball on occasions, but struggled with the pace of the game. The midfielder seemed a bit lost after a point, for which he was replaced at halftime.

Anirudh Thapa- 6.5

Thapa definitely improved after his disappointing show against Kenya, but struggled in the two-man midfield. He did show impressive forward passing ability and great energy, but his inexperience was on display as he struggled to provide defensively for his side.

Md Rafique- 4.0

Rafique was put on the right wing for some reason and that proved to be a terrible decision. He failed to do anything of note and was replaced before the half hour mark because of his poor performance.

Ashique Kuruniyan- 6.0

Kuruniyan showed immense promise in the game, but his poor decision-making cost him. He caused all sorts of problems for the All Whites and dazzled everyone with his trickery and impressive crossing. However, he failed to put in the final ball when needed and was also replaced at halftime.

Sunil Chhetri- 7.0

The captain was the only Indian player intent on scoring a goal. He went close on a few occasions and it was because of his unrelenting determination that Lady Luck allowed him to score that goal.  

Balwant Singh- 5.5

Balwant was given the “Jeje role” and started ahead of him on the day, but failed to provide the same flair. He did create one sudden chance for his side, but was rather ineffective apart from that and was replaced at halftime as a result.

Substitution Udanta Singh- 5.0

Udanta was decent on the counter-attack, but failed to create anything prolific for his side yet again. His defensive work was especially poor and when required to create chances for the Blue Tigers, he failed to do so.

Jeje Lalpekhlua- 6.0

He made his 50th appearance as a substitute, but struggled to play his natural game. The striker missed a glorious opportunity late on and failed to earn India a point.

Pronoy Halder- 6.5

Halder was an absolute rock in midfield after coming on and gave some strength to India’s lineup. He also made some decisive blocks and provided greatly defensively.

Holicharan Narzary- 4.0

Nazary had a night to forget as he failed to put in a single decent cross and was absolutely abysmal going forward.

Sandesh Jhingan- NA

Jhingan came on despite not being fully fit, but put in a decent shift regardless.

Jerry Lalrinzuala- NA

Young Lalrinzuala was brought on later to add some attacking firepower but failed to make an impact.

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New Zealand

Michael Woud- 5.0

The goalkeeper was pretty confident in collecting the ball and saving the few shots which came at him. But, he made a fatal mistake when his pass struck Chhetri and went intothe net, conceding a poor goal after a decent showing.

Samuel Brotherton- 6.0

The defender had little to do, but made sure India couldn’t work off counter-attacks and contained Balwant and Chhetri pretty well.

Nikko Boxall- 6.0

Like his partner, Boxall also had little to do in defending in the time he was on the field. But, he missed a glaring opportunity in the first half and failed to score with an open goal in front of him.

Justin Gulley- 6.5

The right-back was really impressive on the day. Not only did he contain Kuruniyan, but his attacking movement was top class as well. He marauded forward with confidence and terrorized the Blue Tigers with some threatening crosses.

Timothy Payne- 6.0

Payne had a very good game in midfield and dominated the proceedings with ease. His passing was on point, as he rarely mispassed and he often helped to create many chances for the All Whites.

Cameron Howieson- 6.5

The All Whites captain showed immense confidence and helped his side keep all the possession in the game. Not only did he do his distribution work well, but he also helped his defensive whenever India attacked by dropping quite deep and stealing the ball from the Blue Tigers.

Andre de Jong- 7.5

De Jong was an absolute menace for the Blue Tigers throughout the game. He was responsible for being part of many of their moves and was absolutely everywhere on the field. The forward also scored an impressive equalizer by deceiving the Indian defence.

Liberato Cacace- 6.0

The Left-back put in a very good shift and neutralized Udanta's influence by sticking close to him and preventing him from playing freely. He was also pretty good going forward and put in some decent crosses.

Sarpreet Singh- 7.5

The Indian-origin player was highly impressive yet again and showed his potential with a dazzling performance. He was a nightmare on his wing and put in many dangerous crosses as well as providing two terrific assists which fooled the defence. He was awarded the Hero of the Match and quite deservedly so, as he absolutely fooled the Blue Tigers with his skills.

Jai Ingham- 6.5

Ingham became the number one villain for the crowd after a terrible challenge on Kuruniyan, but silenced his doubters after that. He was creating all the glaring opportunities for the All Whites and was unlucky to see nobody being able to convert his amazing crosses into goals.

Myer Bevan- 5.0

The dangerous striker seemed to have lost his scoring shoes on the day. He got a lot of support from his midfield and had many chances to score, but failed to divert his headers and shots on goal, despite receiving some perfect passes.

Substitution

Adam Mitchell- 6.5

The defender put in a solid performance after coming on and made a vital block to stop Chhetri’s pass which looked set to send Lalpekhlua through on goal.

Henry Cameron- 6.0

Cameron came on to further solidify the All Whites’ dominance in midfield and impressed with his passing ability.

Teata Wihongi- 6.0

Wihongi added some strength to New Zealand’s defence and helped them maintain their lead.

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Moses Dyer- 7.0

Dyer was threatening on the left wing after coming on and scored from Singh’s clever pass to win the game for the All Whites. He proved to be the super-sub who took New Zealand to the top of the table.