Despite their spirited fight, Blue Tigers lose 0-2 to Australia

AT the end of the day, it was a two-goal defeat. But a match, where the script called for a merciless mauling of the rank underdogs by a vastly superior team ranked 77 places above them, instead saw a spirited and dogged fight by the team in blue.

- VISHNU PRASAD

India may have lost 0-2 to Australia in the opening match of the 2023 Asian Cup at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in AI Rayyan on Saturday, but Igor Stimac's men left the pitch with their heads held high.

That, for fifty minutes they were on level terms with a team that beat Denmark and gave defending champions Argentina a run for their money in the 2022 World Cup, shows how far Indian football has come in the last decade. When this same fixture kicked off India's 2011 Asian Cup campaign, they had conceded three goals by halftime and only limited the damage because Australia took their foot off the pedal after a fourth.