India’s 1-1 draw with Panama creates football history in Bengaluru

India’s 1-1 draw against 44th-ranked Panama in Bengaluru marked their best-ever result against a higher-ranked opponent in the FIFA World Ranking era. The result also added another memorable chapter to the Blue Tigers’ history at the Kanteerava Stadium

Hyderabad: There are results that look good on the scoreboard. Then there are results whose significance becomes clearer when placed alongside everything that came before them.

India’s 1-1 draw with Panama at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday belongs firmly in the latter category. By the measure of the FIFA World Ranking, the Blue Tigers had never before earned a result against an opponent ranked as high as Panama.

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The Central Americans arrived in Bengaluru ranked 44th in the world, 94 places above 138th-ranked India. Ryan Williams’ first-half goal and a disciplined yet adventurous team performance ensured that gap never translated onto the scoreboard. In the FIFA World Ranking era, Panama are now the highest-ranked opposition against whom the Indian men’s national team have avoided defeat.

The previous benchmark had stood for almost 22 years. On November 5, 2004, India defeated Kuwait 3-2 in an international friendly in Kuwait City. Kuwait were ranked 60th at the time, while Stephen Constantine’s India were 138th. Until Friday night at the Kanteerava, no team placed higher than the West Asians in the rankings had failed to beat India.

For Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, however, the statistic also came with a lingering feeling that India could have taken even more from the evening.

“It is a great result for us, but in my opinion, it could have been even better because we were very close to getting a victory at home,” the captain said.

“We knew Panama were a big team. They played at the World Cup and were in the top 40 around that time, and now they are 44th. So we knew it was going to be a big challenge.

“But all the credit goes to the staff and the boys who played and gave everything. Without that effort, discipline and commitment, it would not have been possible. And also to the people who came to the stadium, cheered for us and pushed us to give everything. I think all of that played a part in making this result possible.”

Perhaps it was fitting that another memorable Indian football result should arrive in Bengaluru. For the Blue Tigers, the city has a habit of providing nights worth remembering. Back on April 8, 2001, the Bengaluru Football Stadium, three-and-a-half kilometres from the Kanteerava, witnessed one of India’s most celebrated FIFA World Cup qualifying victories when Jules Alberto Dias scored the winner in a 1-0 triumph over the United Arab Emirates.

Sixteen years later, Sunil Chhetri’s strike against Kyrgyzstan secured another 1-0 victory at the Kanteerava, a crucial result in the campaign that would eventually take India to the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

Then came 2023. India went unbeaten through the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru and, after successive penalty shootout victories over Lebanon and Kuwait, lifted the trophy in front of a jubilant Kanteerava crowd.

On Friday, another chapter was added. And what made this one stand out was not merely the ranking of the opposition, but the manner in which India approached them.

There was respect for Panama, but no signs of intimidation. Khalid Jamil’s side did not spend the evening retreating towards their own penalty area and waiting for the visitors to dictate terms. India chose their moments to press, looked for the spaces Panama left behind and, whenever possession was regained, tried to move forward with purpose.

Jamil’s instructions from the touchline could repeatedly be heard. A distinctive figure perched centimetres behind the touchline, with his arm raised and index finger pointing high.