Upset with India’s substandard performance in their FIFA World Cup qualifier game against Bangladesh, captain Sunil Chhetri apologised to the fans, acknowledging that the performance of the Blue Tigers couldn’t match the atmosphere at the Salt Lake Stadium.
On Tuesday, India fought tooth and nail to draw 1-1 with Bangladesh — a team which is 83 places below them — in a Group E FIFA World Cup Qualifiers tie, which was also a qualification match for the 2023 Asia Cup.
On Wednesday, Chhetri took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the fans who turned up in large numbers to support the Indian team against Bangladesh.
“We couldn’t deliver a performance to match the atmosphere at the Salt Lake last night, and the dressing room is very disappointed about it. We couldn’t capitalise on the chances we got, but this is a process on the pitch and in the stands. You turned up, we’ll keep attempting to,” Chhetri tweeted.
We couldn’t deliver a performance to match the atmosphere at the Salt Lake last night, and the dressing room is very disappointed about it. We couldn’t capitalise on the chances we got,but this is a process on the pitch and in the stands. You turned up, we’ll keep attempting to.
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) October 16, 2019
Talking about the match, Saad Uddin in the 42nd minute helped Bangladesh take a shocking lead against India. The Blue Tigers, who drew 0-0 against Asian champions Qatar in their last game, were substandard in front of the home crowd and lacked elegance in their game.
The hosts had a flurry of chances to peg back in the second half but they failed to cash in the opportunities. It was only in the 88th minute that Adil headed in a goal to help the match end with figures of 1-1.
With the draw, India move to two points from three games in the Group E table after losing their campaign opener to Oman. Bangladesh, who prior to this game had lost both their matches against Afghanistan and Qatar, opened their account with the first point but remained at the bottom of the five-team group.