King’s Cup 2023: India press panic button at the death to lose against Iraq

Just 11 minutes separated India from a famous upset victory over Iraq in the King’s Cup semifinal at the 700th Anniversary Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Thursday. Despite winning three tournaments this year, a win over Iraq – ranked 70th in the world – would have been their biggest scalp in recent times. But the script went awry at the end.

Against all odds, India snatched a 2-1 lead. But in the 79th minute, India’s mainstay central defender Sandesh Jhingan needlessly wrestled Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein to the ground inside the box to concede a penalty, which the latter calmly slotted past the towering Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to take the match into penalty shootouts.

India’s night went from bad to worse. Brandon Fernandes missed the opening penalty, which proved costly as Iraq won the shootouts 5-4 to advance to the final of the invitational knockout tournament. The result of the match is largely inconsequential though, as the priority for coach Igor Stimac was to duel with challenging opponents to ready them for tougher tests ahead. The Blue Tigers play the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 Fifa World Cup in November but their eyes will be on the all-important AFC Asian Cup in January, their biggest tournament in the foreseeable future.

But Stimac will be quite pleased with what he saw on Thursday. Despite being without the talismanic Sunil Chhetri — who opted out of this tournament following the birth of his first child — and the fiery young winger Lallianzuala Chhangte, who didn’t make the starting XI because of a fever, India looked menacing with and without the ball.

It’s the calmness they showed while defending against a potent attack that will please Stimac the most and he will be delighted with the gumption they