India draws 1-1 with Oman as they resume international football after 16 months

The Indian National Football Team is back in action after almost 16 months. They last played an international fixture in November 2019. India took on Oman today in an international friendly.

The popularity of the Indian national football team has skyrocketed in the last few years. They now have a large fan base, and all those Indian football fans were eagerly waiting to watch their stars take the football field in the Blue colours.

Indian head coach Igor Stimac gave debuts to 6 players in the starting XI – Akash, Ashutosh, Chinglensana, Suresh, Bipin and Jeakson. Apuia, Yasir, Ishan and Mashoor came on as substitutes in the second half. It was a record 10 debutants in a single match.

The Indian football team hasn’t let down their fans. After conceding an own goal by Chinglensana in the first half, India came back stronger in the second half and scored the equaliser. Bipin Singh put in a delicious cross from the right flank, and it was headed home by Manvir Singh.

The last quarter of the match became end to end as both the teams went in search of a late winner, but eventually, the honours were shared at the final whistle.

But the most important talking point of the match was that Eurosports wasn’t telecasting the match live in India. AIFF officially declared that the international friendly matches would be telecasted on Eurosport. All the fans were excited to watch the match, but even after the kick-off time of 7:15 PM IST, there was no telecast of the India vs Oman match.

The Eurosport SD channel showed a cricket match while the Eurosport HD channel was telecasting an Eredivisie match between AZ and PSV. There is no telecast of the India vs Oman international friendly match. All Indian football fans have been angered and frustrated by this careless situation.

India will play against UAE in another international friendly match on Monday, 29th March.