CAFA Cup: Khalid Jamil era begins on a bright note, but mighty Iran looms ahead

A 2–1 victory over a country ranked marginally higher may not exactly be reason to erupt in joy, but it’s been over a year that Indian football has been in the spotlight for the right reasons. The Khalid Jamil era begins, then, on the best possible note for the Blue Tigers after an unexpected and hard-earned win against hosts Tajikistan in their first match at the CAFA Nations Cup 2025 on 28 August, Friday — raising hopes that they are game for a fight.

Just ponder this: it was the first competitive victory for the senior national team since November 2023, before they lapsed into a barren run when their scorers repeatedly became leaden-footed in front of the rival goal.

The lack of striking prowess forced the team management to bring back Sunil Chhetri from retirement, but even that didn’t help, while two celebrated coaches in Igor Stimac and Manolo Marquez were let go during this period.

This was also the first time in exactly a decade that an India head coach has won his first outing in charge of the Blue Tigers dugout. Briton Stephen Constantine was the last coach to have started with full points, when India defeated Nepal 2–0 in their World Cup Qualifiers in 2015.

The job is certainly well begun for Khalid Jamil, albeit with the help of some ultra-defensive strategy — but Operation Salvage will face a major challenge when the Blue Tigers run into Iran, ranked 20^th, in the next group game on 1 September, Monday, and then Afghanistan — whom India lost to in their last meeting in a World Cup qualifier.

‘’Be positive’’ was Khalid’s mantra at the pre-match media conference — and what certainly helped the team was that not even the most diehard of supporters was harbouring high expectations for this campaign.

There was, of course, a method in the bearded former Jamshedpur FC coach’s plans — after all, his biggest advantage is first-hand knowledge of the national team players’ strengths and weaknesses from his years in the I-League and the ISL. Going into the match with a lone striker, the coach wanted his men to make the most of set-piece situations — like the long throws that curled into the rival box, along with the corner kicks — with the two tall central defenders, Sandesh Jhingan and Anwar Ali, moving up for the final touches.

The move certainly paid off, as both struck early in the game; but the second half saw the visitors parking the bus against a wave of Tajikistan attacks. A quote attributed to Khalid on socal media says: “They may take the ball home, but we will take home three points.” The authenticity of the quote is questionable, some even attributing it to master tactician Jose Mourinho.

The tactic evoked mixed responses — some said a coach like Khalid would actually take Indian football back with such a strategy. Ifs and buts aside, it could have been a different story if lanky custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had not been able to put his foot across to save a late penalty — but then that’s the slice of luck one often needs.

With a new-look team, missing some of the leading players that were not released by ISL champions Mohun Bagan Super Giant, Khalid showed he wanted to keep things simple and wanted the team to play well within its limitations. It remains to be seen how well his strategy works against a mighty Iran!