India’s third-place finish at the CAFA Nations Cup came somewhat out of the blue. This was a team that had struggled to defeat sides ranked far beneath them, resulting in their own FIFA ranking plummeting to 133rd at the start of the tournament. Moreover, news around Indian football has been about battles in courts and boardrooms and conference halls of posh hotels, with the overarching uncertainty about Indian Super League’s (ISL) future dominating everything.
And yet, there they were at the end of the tournament on September 8, with the significantly higher-ranking Oman and Tajikistan among the teams finishing below them.
Sandesh Jhingan, one of three players designated as captain of the Indian team before the tournament, admits that among the first things the players had to do when they assembled for the first national camp organised by new head coach Khalid Jamil, was try and put all the negativity in the background.
“Even if you try to use words to cover up the situation, there was always uncertainty deep inside. There was fear. Football is the only job we have,” Jhingan told The Indian Express. “More than the players I was feeling more bad for the ones who are working in the clubs off the pitch.”
Jhingan then gave an insight into how the players recalibrated themselves in order to stay focussed on the football. At the end of the day a good result always holds value, regardless of the churns happening in the sport and Jhingan and his teammates were conscious of that. “The way I look at it is that if I can’t do much about it, then I kind of switch off from it. If I can’t do anything about it, if my voice won’t make much of a difference in the decision making, because I know how it’s going to be. So I personally took myself off it, and I was like, just let me focus on my national duty and the club duties.
“That was the main conversation within the team, we can’t do much about it. Of course, we can raise our voice, but at the end of the day, they will decide. So let’s just make sure we do what we are supposed to. There is fear in everyone’s heart, but we have to look beyond it. That’s why we are professional footballers. We have to look beyond everything else, even your family problems, your illness; you have to look ahead and just put up the right performance. That is what footballers do and that’s what we have to do. And I think we kind of did show that in the CAFA Cup.”
The Khalid Jamil impact
Jhingan emphasised Khalid Jamil’s innate ability to fill his players with confidence. (Photo Credit: AIFF)
Jamil is only the third Indian to be appointed as the national team’s full-time coach in this century. “I think the Indian factor more is just for the language, I guess. The same mother tongue kind of helps,” says Jhingan, emphasising Jamil’s bigger impact was his innate ability to fill his players with confidence.
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“Just his words. The way he likes to build the team, he just makes sure that, it’s tough to put it in words but he just kind of builds a lot of confidence in each and every player, the guys just know took that confidence along on the pitch, and we just got the results,” said Jhingan.
“When he came in, he brought his philosophy, the way he wanted us to play. Credit to the boys also. He told us how he wants us to play these games and the boys adapted very well. It’s just his persona and of course, him being an Indian also makes a difference. It all just built up, you know. While we were there at the camp, we didn’t realise it at the time. But now, when the tournament is finished, I could look back and I say, like, yes, the energy was there.”
Sandesh Jhingan had sustained a cheekbone fracture during India’s win against Tajikistan in their CAFA Nations Cup opener.
For Jhingan, the immediate aim is to now recover from a surgery for a fractured cheekbone that he had sustained in India’s 2-1 win over Tajikistan in the opening match of the CAFA Nations Cup. “I will be ready in about the next seven or 10 days,” he said. Then, his attention will turn towards joining his club FC Goa in their AFC Champions League 2 group stage matches before returning to the national camp for the all-important 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches away and at home against Singapore.
Jhingan says that while the CAFA Nations Cup result was “brilliant” the players were never under any illusions about the true value of that tournament. “The main reason for playing this tournament was to bring back the confidence in the group. And I think it has lifted our spirits a lot, and now we have to continue building on it, knowing what is ahead of us, and we need to get maximum points in the next game,” he said.
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After that comes the prospect of hosting Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr in Goa in the ACL 2 and, just maybe, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring. “It’ll be great if he comes. It’s not often you get to play one of the greats of the sport,” he said.
