India held to goalless draw by Afghanistan
Blue Tigers end group stage with four points from three games
Still in contention for CAFA Nations Cup third-place match berth
The Indian football team could not make use of the chances that came its way and was held to a goalless draw by Afghanistan at the CAFA Nations Cup in Hisor (Tajikistan) on Thursday.
The Blue Tigers finished their Group B engagements with four points from three games, and now await the result of the match between Iran and Tajikistan, to know their fate in the tournament.
Having lost to Iran and beaten Tajikistan, India could still finish second and ensure their progression to the third-place match on September 8, if the tournament co-hosts do not win against formidable Iran.
Afghanistan started the game on the offensive, though India created more clear-cut chances in the opening exchanges on the counter.
A little after the quarter-hour mark, Ashique Kuruniyan managed to break through behind on the left and cut it back for Irfan Yadwad, who missed his shot.
India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was called into action in the 24th minute, when he made a smart save off of a long shot by Ali Reza Panahi. Minutes later, Yadwad was played through into the Afghanistan box, but his eventual shot went wide of the far post.
Ashique managed to close down Afghanistan centre-back Mahboob Hanifi in the 34th minute, and stole the ball inside the box, and only had goalkeeper Faisal Ahmad Hamidi to beat, but the latter smothered the ball.
The India winger received a booking for colliding with Hamidi in his efforts to get to the ball.
Jithin MS, who got his first start in India colours, tip-toed around his marker on the right and squared it to Ashique, minutes before the half-time interval, but the latter's shot from the edge of the area was blocked.
Jithin had another chance in the first half injury time, when he got onto a clearance at the edge of the Afghanistan box and fired it on the half turn, sending the ball agonisingly over the woodwork.
India gained more control of the game after the change of ends, head coach Khalid Jamil opting to introduce Manvir Singh (Jr) and Vikram Partap Singh into the fray.
The first real chance of the half came around the hour mark, when Nikhil Prabhu, with the outside of his boot, threaded a through ball to a chasing Jithin, but it was just out of the latter's reach.
Jithin had another chance after Uvais' long throw found Jithin at the far post, but his shot went over in the 66th minute.
Afghanistan had arguably the best chance of the game in the 71st minute, when Hossein Zamani cut one back from the right to Yama Sherzad, whose shot was tipped onto the cross-bar by Sandhu.
The Lions of Khorasan began to gain more momentum towards the end of the match, but the Blue Tigers' defence held on to earn the draw.
India had lost to Afghanistan in their last meeting during the second round 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in March 2024.
