The Indian National Football team was humbled by the United Arab Emirates in a crushing defeat on Monday, March 29. The Blue Tigers were on the end of a 6-0 loss with UAE star striker Ali Mabkhout scoring a hat-trick. Igor Stimac’s men had drawn their first friendly against Oman.
UAE 6-0 India – read the scoreboard once the referee blew his whistle in the Zabeel Stadium. The Blue Tigers were heavily beaten on the night, recording their biggest reverse in more than a decade. The defeat meant India returned home without a win from their two friendly matches in Dubai. They had drawn their first match against Oman 1-1, following a good second-half display.
While the Blue Tigers put on a spirited second-half performance against Oman, they collapsed completely against UAE. Igor Stimac’s men were already two goals down at the interval, thanks to a brace by Ali Mabkhout. The striker had opened the scoring for his side in the twelfth minute, lobbing the ball over Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal after being played through. He scored his second of the night from the penalty spot following a hand-ball by Adil Khan.
Mabkhout completed his hat-trick just before the hour mark. His goal meant that he had scored four times against India in their last two matches. The forward then turned into a provider for Khalil Ibrahim, who slotted the ball past Sandhu with ease.
The Blue Tigers were dispirited by the time UAE’s fifth went in, turning the thrashing into a rout – Al-Wasl midfielder, Fabio de Lima, was the scorer of this one. Former Everton striker, Sebastian Tagliabue, scored an easy tap-in for UAE’s sixth goal, with Lima assisting with a cross. Sandhu made a decent stop late on to stop India from getting further humiliated.
Stimac’s men will return to India after the conclusion of their training camp. While they did not manage to record a win, the camp did provide exposure to several players new to the international setup. However, the Croat will hope that his side puts in better shifts when they play their remaining AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in June. First up for them are the current Asian champions, Qatar.
