Indian lose 1-2 to Turkmenistan to suffer 4th straight defeat

Ashgabat: straight defeat losing 1-2 to Turkmenistan in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, here on Thursday.

India thus remained at the bottom of the Group D points table and now have virtually no chance to even qualify for the Asian Cup by finishing third.

For the winners, Gubanch Abylov scored the first goal in the 8th minute while Arslanmynat Amanov scored the winner at the sroke of hour (60th minute). For India Jeje Lalpeklhua had equalised in the 28th minute.

With team’s training severely hampered due to Indian Super League (ISL) preparations, the national team players did not have any motivation as they were practically out after losing the first three matches.

This defeat also puts national coach Stephen Constantine’s future in doubt as the Indian team under him as gone from bad to worse in the last year or so.