India Lose to Bahrain, Crash Out of AFC Asian Cup; Constantine Resigns - Highlights

Hello, Namaste, Marhaba, good evening. Welcome to our live blog. So this is it… eh. Phew. Indian football’s biggest competitive fixture since forever. Three points and we are gold, straight through to the knockouts. One point and we could still get through. A loss, and we will have to rely on the UAE doing us a favour against Thailand, and math.

But fret not. Because not matter what happens, Indian football has taken some serious strides forward, over the past 10 days. Win lose or draw, keep supporting Indian football. Competitive sport is a tough business. And watching it is maddening. On that note...

There is an hour to the game. What to do? Watch our preview. It is 40 minutes long. Gives you enough time to watch it, make your own assumptions, correct the angle of your couch in front of the TV, keep your device locked on this blog and then, game on.

There is an absurd circle of life feeling to this fixture. On this day, exactly seven years ago, India played Bahrain in the Asian Cup group stage. Sandesh Jhingan knows that.

Rowllin Borges in for Anirudh Thapa. Coach Constantine seems to have opted for guile instead of style in this crucial encounter against Bahrain. Let's see whether this move would catch the Bahrain players unawares and upset their gameplan...

On that day, Renedy Singh was on fire. Every time he had time on the ball, whether from a set piece or from a crossing position, the Bahrain goal was in jeopardy. His free kick produced Gouramangi Singh’s equaliser, and it was his scorching shot -- after a delightful dink over an onrushing defender no less -- that bounced off the cross bar to present Chhetri with his first goal at the Asian Cup. The crossbar was a bit too firm for India’s liking in their previous game against UAE. Aim about 3 inches lower today boys.

Erm. The superstar has landed in the UAE. He’s Korean. And he has delightfully absurd airport hair.

Of course the best scenario for the Indian football team in today's match would be an outright victory. They progress directly without any fuss regardless of what the result is in the UAE vs Thailand match

It is clear from the formation that Bahrain wants to score early, and put India on the back foot

National Anthems to kick it off. Sing loud. Sing hard. On the singing performance India have done better. Seriously. The Bahrain guys cannot sing. Cannot.

Also: keep the UAE-Thailand game on mute on a separate screen. There’s something to be gained of knowing what we are playing for after all.

Ishfaq Ahmed, who is with us at the live blog predicts a goal each. And India to go through.

News Alert: Sunil Chhetri has a new haircut! His shooting boots are, as always, glorious. Hopefully even better today.

1’ Ishfaq also predicts that the UAE will beat Thailand 2-0. He says, Thailand being forced to play up and attack, will open up spaces for UAE to exploit. That game has kicked off.

2’ Anas is holding his hamstring. That’s an awful start for India. That’s a blow for India. Anas looks distraught.

Salam Ranjan comes on to replace Anas. Unfortunate start to the match for India. This throws off not just the opening formation but also narrows down options for strategy shifts later in the match

Ishfaq recalls that Anas had similar injury troubles with Jamshedpur FC in the ISL last year. Hopefully this isn’t more than a tweak, a precaution more than anything else. It shakes up the chemistry at the heart of defence. Never a good thing.

6’ Bahrain win the ball at the edge of the India box, from what at first look looks a foul. A rasping drive is deflected but Gurpreet adjusts and saves brilliantly. The rebound goes out off a Bahrain pitch. Thankfully wide.

7’ Bahrain’s wing backs have already started on mercury. There is some serious speed there. Another shot is saved by Gurpreet. He has made more saves in these seven minutes than the whole of the first half against the UAE.