Indian football at Asian Games 2023: What happened when India last played in Round of 16 of Asiad?

India, led by Sunil Chhetri, had proved its pedigree, earning six of the nine points possible in the group stage, despite assembling a team in the eleventh hour before the tournament.

The India team last made it to the round of 16 of the Asian Games at the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, China | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Indian team qualified for the round of 16 at the Asian Games after 13 years when it beat Bangladesh and drew with Myanmar in Hangzhou on September 24.

The team, led by Sunil Chhetri, had proved its pedigree, earning four of the nine points possible in the group stage, despite assembling a team in the eleventh hour before the tournament.

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In the pre-quarterfinals, it will meet Saudi Arabia, which thrashed Vietnam 3-1 in its final group match to eliminate it from the Asian Games.

Before the match between India and Saudi Arabia, Sportstar has a look at what happened the last time the Blue Tigers played in the knockouts at the Asian Games.

Asian Games round of 16: India vs Japan, November 16, 2010

When India qualified for the Asian Games knockouts after 28 years, there was a lot of cheer on its comeback in the tournament.

The team, led by Joaquim Abranches, lost its first two matches to Kuwait and Qatar but made the cut for knockouts after a 4-1 win over Singapore.

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All noise from that campaign was silenced by eventual champion Japan, which not only dominated the gameplay but also put its seal of victory with a 5-0 score at full-time.

Ryohei Yamazaki of Japan tries to dribbled past Lalthlamuana of India in the round of 16 match between Japan and India at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Former Vissel Kobe striker Kensuke Nagai opened the goal rush in the 17th minute and Ryuohei Yamazaki doubled the lead 10 minutes later. At half-time, after a late strike by Yamamura Kazuya, the score was 3-0.

Japan had 19 shots in the opening 45 minutes, with 13 of them on target. In the second half, the Blue Samurais piled on more misery, scoring two more.

India, on the other hand, had just three shots in the entire match, with only one of them on target.

Kensuke Nagai of Japan celebrates scoring the first goal against India in the round of 16 match of the Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, China. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

India’s head coach Sukhwinder Singh brought replaced Manish Maithani and captain Joaquim Abranches with Oinam Milan Singh and Lalrindika Ralte in the 65th and 73rd minutes, hoping for some fightback but that did not make much difference.

Japan eventually beat Thailand, Iran and then the United Arab Emirates to clinch the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games men’s football.

Match result:

 Japan 5 bt India 0 (Kensuke Nagai 17’, 51’, Ryuohei Yamazaki 27’, Yamamura Kazuya 45’, Mizinuma Kota 63’)