Indian media swallow humble pies following Bangladesh match

Before the Bangladesh match in the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers match Tuesday, most Indian media outlets were writing on the prospects of improving the goal difference, or even the hat-trick of their talisman Sunil Chhetri.

But the men in red and green turned the tables around as they earned a creditable draw at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

Bangladesh, under the tutelage of English head coach Jamie Day, dominated the game and their disciplined, counter-attack based display almost managed to fetch them all three points, but the host salvaged a point with an equalizer two minutes before the end of regulation play. 

And that changed the approach of Indian media, who not only hailed the visitor but also made sharp criticisms to local players, after the match.

Jamie Day had termed Bangladesh’s performance against Qatar as the best since he took charge but it took the Englishman less than a week to guide the national team to another heroic display against India and according to him, the latest topped the lasthttps://t.co/zJwNpMrnI0#WC

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) October 16, 2019

Bartaman, a popular newspaper headline on the matchday read, “India’s main target is to improve the goal difference.” 

But the language changed completely after the match. 

The outlet hailed the crowd for filling the stadium with a capacity of 80,000, creating a carnival-like atmosphere as they went on to term the Indian team’s performance as “abysmal.” 

English newspaper The Telegraph declared the Indian team to be “favorite” before the match. 

Bangladesh football team were denied a remarkable away win against India in the @FIFAWorldCup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualifiers match by a late goal in Kolkata, but the brilliant show by the men in red and green earned plaudits from former players.https://t.co/FeZUdmGQ4v#BFF

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) October 16, 2019

In the preview, the newspaper stated, “Thanks to the Indian football team’s stupendous performance against Qatar last month, Sunil Chhetri and Co are now waking up to play with the tag ‘favorite’.”

“Tuesday evening, when Chhetri and teammates take on Bangladesh in a Group E qualifier at Salt Lake Stadium, they will be expected to win. And win with a handsome margin.”

However, after the match, the newspaper’s headline read, “Home truth in close shave” while the article stated, “It was a match which India were expected to win by a big margin. But what transpired in front of 61,486 fans was nightmarish. Bangladesh played a superb game and were distinctly unlucky not to take Wednesday’s flight back home with three points.”

It was the same with Anandabazar Patrika, who too, had to swallow humble pies. 

Bangladesh football team head coach Jamie Day rued not getting all three points after their 2022 @FIFAWorldCup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualifiers match against India ended in an entertaining 1-1 draw at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata Tuesday evening.https://t.co/ByEW2DmPtA#BFF

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) October 15, 2019

Before the match, in one of their several reports, they did not shy away from mentioning that Bangladesh may need three to four people to man-mark Chhetri, and that would ease the situation for other players. 

But after the match, they lampooned their own players, particularly their in-form goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, and published an article on Saad Uddin, the Bangladesh goal-scorer who netted his first international goal. 

On social media, Indian fans were boastful about their side, which held Asian champion Qatar a few days ago, and eyeing a one-sided win. 

However, they were furious after the game and started to post trolls, and harsh criticisms to the men in blue, whilst hailing the Bangladesh booters.