India vs Zimbabwe, Unity Cup Highlights: Listless IND lose 0-1 to ZIM

Maroodza dribbles past two Indian players like they don't exist on the right, squares it to a teammate whose shot is a poor one. If it wasn't for this inefficiency in front of goal, Zimbabwe would have been winning by about three goals.

Edmund and Jeakson Singh come on, Rahim Ali and Macarton are off. Jamil finally making changes without about nine minutes to go in the match.

And the man going out is Chhangte, replaced by Mohammed Sanan. That's it, the only change in the 75th minute.

Channgte does well to flick the ball away from the Zimbabwe player in front of him on the left, then decides to try and cut in instead of charging forward, loses the ball. Zimbabwe play it to their goalkeeper and Channgte charges forward to press. He implores his teammates to do the same but there is not a single other Indian player in the frame.

Sums things up.

That has to be the first time India challenged the Zimbabwean goalkeeper in any way. Bheke's long throw in from the right near the box. The ball bounces around aimlessly around heads inside the box before Chhangte goes for a shot first time on the volley. The ball takes a slight deflection off a Zimbabwean leg and nearly goes into the bottom left corner. Goalkeeper Tavaziva somehow pushes it away and it comes off the post back into play outside the box on the left.

India started off positively with a lot of attacking intent but every time the oppurtunity came to either take the shot or make a decisive pass that could lead to one, they make a meal of it. They finally win a free kick that also comes to nothing and Zimbabwe charge down the left through Maroodza. Bheke somehow stays with him, Maroodza twists him and turns him around but in that time, there are enough Indian bodies back to kick it out of play for a throw in.

Well some very strange timekeeping from the referees there. The assistant put up three minutes of extra time, when there were still about two minutes to go for the end of regular time in the half. And then the referee blows for half-time as soon as the 45th minute starts.

India have been woeful, to put it mildly, particularly after going 1-0 down. Since conceding, the Zimbabwe players have been able to run circles around them without too much effort. Up top, the few deliveries that were meant to go into the Zimbabwe box have been dealt with easily or just blown out of the field of play. Not a single decent chance yet for India.

Dube turns the Indian player on him around easily in midfield and passes the ball forward, Munetsi enters the box and squares it. Tshuma gets the ball and his shot is straight at Sandhu, which is the only reason India are not 2-0 down. They are looking utterly clueless.

Well that is just a silly tackle inside the box. Shane Maroodza has been causing all kinds of problems down the left, he manages to square the ball. A nice little backflick inside the box by Tshuma to Navaya who is absolutely clattered from the back by Farukh. The easiest of penalties to give, it may be tricky to put in a tackle inside the box from behind but it surely doesn't need to be what Farukh did there.

India get a throw-in in the 22nd min left side of the Zimbabwe box. Rahul Bheke loads up his long throw in and catapults the ball in but Zimbabwe are alert to the threat. Seconds later, Zimbabwe themselves win a corner but it comes to nothing.

It is pretty clear now that India are playing with a back three of Jhingan, Bheke and Ricky Shabong, with Nikhil Poojary and Akash Mishra taking very wide positions.

India have pressed far better than they did in the first match against Jamaica but they have been undone thus far by some rank poor passing. Thus far, it is pretty much the same story that we have seen earlier whenever India have put on a good show in their matches - a lot of effort but low on quality, particularly in attack.

Akash Mishra with a good ball down the left and Vikram Pratap Singh charges down the channel, there are no Zimbabwe players around him. He blindly boots the ball to his right in the name of a cross and it flies out. Vikram has been playing football at the senior level since 2018. Eight years later, this is what he does.

Well it looks like the Zimbabwe goalkeeper took some extra time to get into position. The two teams are standing at the ready, with Zimbabwe to kick it all off.

Tavaziva (gk), Jalai, Maroodza, Mthunzi, Garananga, Takwara, Moffat, Munetsi, Tshuma, Dube, Navaya

The Unity Cup may be happening outside the FIFA International window but it has been given a Tier 1 status by football's global governing body. This means that every match bears as many ranking points as a game in the official window would. FYI, the next FIFA international window starts on June 1, as Mohun Bagan so nicely reminded everyone in the country.

If in case you are wondering why India are playing all their first team players, which means none of the members of the promising U20 side, well, you are one of many. But the answer may lie in what Khalid Jamil said this side is viewing the Unity Cup as.

“The Unity Cup will be the perfect opportunity for us to prepare for the official tournaments like the SAFF Championship later this year. We need to utilise every available FIFA International Window to prepare for the tournaments we have up ahead. We have selected the 28 players for the preliminary squad, as per their performances in the ongoing ISL. We will have a couple of days to assess them before we pick the final 23,” he said.

So, India are facing Jamaica and now Zimbabwe, both sides ranked far higher than them, in England, a country they rarely get to play in, to prepare for the SAFF Championship in which the next highest ranked side after India are Nepal, nearly 40 places below them on the table. And to prepare for a tournament like that, you need a group in which the majority of the players will be on the wrong side of 35 the next time India play a game of any meaning in the race for the next Asian Cup after the 2027 edition, that India missed.