It seems that, if you are an Indian football fan, disappointment will never be too far away for you.
Such was the unforgettable experience of watching the Indian senior men’s national team face their Bangladeshi counterparts in Shillong in an AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifier on Tuesday evening.
Despite it being a disappointing goalless draw, the game was still unforgettable given that it was the first time a competitive-level match of international standing was held in Shillong.
Before the game the hype was centred on two players – the returning talisman Sunil Chhetri (who scored in the friendly against Maldives at the same venue last week) and Bangladesh’s English Premier League addition Hamza Choudhary.
To be fair, both players were a little underwhelming, though Sunil more so. The two received the biggest cheers when their names were introduced by the announcer and when they walked back to the dressing rooms after the warm-up.
Hamza is a midfielder who dropped back into the defence in the second half as Bangladesh looked to hold off India and take a point from the away game. But he did not seem to quite gel with his new team mates and did not make much of an impression, at least not enough to justify the excitement of his debut.
Sunil missed his opportunities but, to be fair, the striker did not get enough of the ball as India were woeful in defence in the first half, with no momentum going forwards. Though they attacked better in the second half, the fans’ hopes for an elusive goal remained just that.
The fans, though, were awesome. Fewer than 7,000 turned out for the friendly against the Maldives and that was not a good sign. However, double that figure thronged the JN Stadium and filled the stands for the Bangladesh game and that made for a terrific atmosphere. There were some complaints by the visiting team about the standard of the practice ground in NEHU but, otherwise, Shillong may have cemented itself as a venue for India international football matches.
Other than seeing the national team improve, local football fans would dearly love to see a Meghalayan in the colours of the Blue Tigers. Samuel Lyngdoh Kynshi briefly made it into the squad in 2023 but this was more because ISL clubs declined to release players for India’s participation in the Asian Games. He was unable to secure a place in the team after that and has now dropped down from the ISL to the lower I-League.
Meghalaya has consistently underperformed when it comes to getting players into national colours. It seems a lifetime ago that Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Aiborlang Khongjee and Rocus Lamare had featured. Contrast this with the consistent success of Manipur and Mizoram and there is a lot of head-scratching to do. But with ever more investment promised by the state government, the dream lives on.
