Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stood tall under the bar with a series of stunning saves, including a spot-kick, as India, under new coach Khalid Jamil, beat higher-ranked Tajikistan 2-1 in their opening match of the CAFA Nations Cup football tournament on Friday.
World No. 133 India scored through defenders Anwar Ali (5th) and Sandesh Jhingan (13th) and then doggedly defended against the 106th ranked hosts for the remaining 75 minutes.
Jamil, in his first match as India head coach, couldn't have asked for a better result and credit should go to skipper Gurpreet, who returned to the starting XI after being sidelined under former coach Manolo Marquez.
"Indian fans had waited for this result for a long time. I know we defended deep at times but we are still rusty but we need to build on this win. We need to show more character against Iran," Jhingan said in a snap interview.
Lack of quality in the attacking third is still a big problem but on Friday, centre backs Anwar and Jhingan took it upon themselves to end India's scoring draught that had stretched to three international games within the first 15 minutes.
The shape that the team kept in both attack and defence had signature Jamil written all over it. The lateral backs -- Rahul Bheke and Muhammed Uvais Moyikkal initially went on overlap although after a couple goals, they strangely went into a defensive mould.
Anwar, perhaps Indian football team's most priceless possession at the moment, had his name on the scoresheet in the fifth minute when he headed in from a goalmouth melee following a long throw-in from Uvais from the left flank.
The Tajik defender, who tried to effect a goalline save saw his kick rebound inside his own goal after hitting another player. The referee, however, awarded the goal to Anwar.
The lead was doubled in the 13th minute when Anwar, after failing to control the ball with his first touch, went towards wide right and sent a left-footed swerving cross which was powerfully headed by Bheke. Goalkeeper Muhriddin Hasanov barely parried it and Jhingan lurking close by stabbed it home.
However, leading 2-0, Jamil's men suddenly tried to close shop and this gave the home team, buoyed by vociferous local support, a chance to claw back into the game.
Suddenly Bheke and Uvais weren't as busy down the flanks as they were in the first 15 minutes. The hard-press game did give Tajiks a look in and finally they pulled one back in the 23rd minute.
It was Sheriddin Boboev, who freed Shahrom Samiev, who beat Jhingan with power and speed and then placed it to the left of surging Gurpreet to make it 1-2.
India's central midfield was virtually non-existent during the period both Suresh Singh Wangjam and Lallianzuala Chhangte not making any impact.
The start of the second half was even more ominous for the Indians as Gurpreet was kept busy with some stinging goal bound attempts that he managed to keep away.
The Indian head coach made three changes in the second half -- East Bengal's Naorem Mahesh Singh as an attacking wing half, Nikhil Prabhu as a defensive screen and Danish Farooq to complement him.
However, Tajiks' high-line style of play also left very little space and Indian forwards Vikram Partap Singh and Irfan Yadawad were merely spectators for the better part of the match. But that had a lot to do with central midfield not feeding them with enough balls and more intent on keeping Tajik attackers at bay.
In the wave of attacks, Tajikistan ultimately earned a penalty when Vikram Partap had a hand on the Tajikistan striker Rustam Soirov's shoulder and he fell inside the box.
However, Gurpreet dived to his right and his long legs prevented Soirov's spot-kick.
It was in the 85th minute that Naorem Mahesh's left-footed pile driver off a counter was saved by Hasanov. Towards the end, Gurpreet once again effected a stunning save, his fifth of the second half.
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