Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team

BENGALURU: There are results that look good on the scoreboard. Then there are results whose significance becomes clearer when placed alongside everything that came before them.

India’s 1-1 draw with Panama at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Friday belongs firmly in the latter category. By the measure of the FIFA World Ranking, the Blue Tigers had never before earned a result against an opponent ranked as high as Panama.

The Central Americans arrived in Bengaluru ranked 44th in the world, 94 places above 138th-ranked India. Ryan Williams’ first-half goal and a disciplined yet adventurous team performance ensured that gap never translated onto the scoreboard.

In the FIFA World Ranking era, Panama are now the highest-ranked opposition against whom the Indian men’s national team have avoided defeat.

The previous benchmark had stood for almost 22 years. On November 5, 2004, India defeated Kuwait 3-2 in an international friendly in Kuwait City. Kuwait were ranked 60th at the time, while Stephen Constantine's India were 138th. Until Friday night at the Kanteerava, no team placed higher than the West Asians in the rankings had failed to beat India.

For Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, however, the statistic also came with a lingering feeling that India could have taken even more from the evening.

“It is a great result for us, but in my opinion, it could have been even better because we were very close to getting a victory at home,” the captain said.

“We knew Panama were a big team. They played at the World Cup and were in the top 40 around that time, and now they are 44th. So we knew it was going to be a big challenge.

“But all the credit goes to the staff and the boys who played and gave everything. Without that effort, discipline and commitment, it would not have been possible. And also to the people who came to the stadium, cheered for us and pushed us to give everything. I think all of that played a part in making this result possible.”

Perhaps it was fitting that another memorable Indian football result should arrive in Bengaluru. For the Blue Tigers, the city has a habit of providing nights worth remembering. Back on April 8, 2001, the Bengaluru Football Stadium, three-and-a-half kilometres from the Kanteerava, witnessed one of India's most celebrated FIFA World Cup qualifying victories when Jules Alberto Dias scored the winner in a 1-0 triumph over the United Arab Emirates.

Sixteen years later, Sunil Chhetri's strike against Kyrgyzstan secured another 1-0 victory at the Kanteerava, a crucial result in the campaign that would eventually take India to the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

Then came 2023. India went unbeaten through the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru and, after successive penalty shootout victories over Lebanon and Kuwait, lifted the trophy in front of a jubilant Kanteerava crowd.

On Friday, another chapter was added. And what made this one stand out was not merely the ranking of the opposition, but the manner in which India approached them.

There was respect for Panama, but no signs of intimidation. Khalid Jamil's side did not spend the evening retreating towards their own penalty area and waiting for the visitors to dictate terms. India chose their moments to press, looked for the spaces Panama left behind and, whenever possession was regained, tried to move forward with purpose.

Jamil's instructions from the touchline could repeatedly be heard. A distinctive figure perched centimetres behind the touchline, with his arm raised and index finger pointing high.

“Press, press, press!” 
“Up, up, up!”

Lose the ball, and India were asked to hunt for it again. Win it back, and the first thought was often forward. Williams was at the centre of much of that threat.

Before scoring, he had already driven an effort narrowly wide and been involved in a few promising Indian attacks.

For the forward, who began his journey in Indian club football in Bengaluru, there could hardly have been a more appropriate setting to score an international goal on Indian soil.

“To score like that is just such a cool moment because this is where I started my football in India, and to do it in the blue colours of India here at my home stadium.. You can’t top it,” Williams said.

“I think we deserved this, to be honest. We were probably unlucky to draw that game, but I’m very, very proud of the boys, how we approached the game and how we played.”

That final sentence perhaps captured the larger significance of the performance. Indian football has produced its share of results against formidable opposition in recent years.

There was the goalless draw with China in Suzhou in October 2018, when Sandhu and the Indian defence withstood sustained pressure to secure a result away from home.

Less than three months later came the 4-1 victory over Thailand in the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019. It was India's first win at the tournament in 55 years and one of the Blue Tigers' most complete attacking performances ever.

Then, in September 2019, India travelled to Doha and held reigning Asian champions Qatar to a goalless draw in a FIFA World Cup qualifier. Qatar were ranked 62nd, India 103rd. Sandhu, wearing the captain's armband that night, produced a commanding display as India resisted wave after wave of pressure.

Against Panama, it felt like a mix of all the aforementioned performances. India had to defend, particularly during periods in the second half. But they also created openings, committed players forward and repeatedly looked for ways to hurt an opponent coming off a FIFA World Cup campaign.

“I’m happy that we took the game to Panama a little bit,” Williams said. “We sat off at times, but when we had the ball, we tried to hurt them, and we did. We probably could have scored more than one. So overall, I think it was a really successful game.”

When Panama's equaliser eventually arrived in the 68th minute, it required something exceptional. Sandhu had no chance as Omar Valencia struck powerfully from outside the box and into the top corner.

“The goal we conceded was a very good strike, to be honest. It took everyone by surprise, even me, which ideally should not be the case,” Sandhu said.

“But sometimes you have to put your hand up and applaud the effort of a player who has produced something special, and that shot ended up in the net. Other than that, I think the team did really well to make my job easier. I did not have too much to do, and my task from behind was also to make sure everything remained organised so that the ball did not reach our goal as often as people might have expected before the game.”

Thirty-six hours on, however, attention inside the camp has already begun shifting from what happened at the Kanteerava to what lies ahead.

On Saturday, the 11 players who started against Panama underwent a recovery session in the gym. The 15 substitutes were back on the training pitch in the afternoon for a full 90-minute session. The Blue Tigers will travel to Kolkata on Monday, September 28, where an even bigger assignment awaits.

Friday's result does not make the Brazil and Uruguay challenge any less formidable, but Sandhu believes it gives India something valuable to carry east with them — momentum.

“Football is all about momentum, and this game gives us that. We have also had some days of training together now and have a game in our legs. But next we probably face the most difficult opponent I have faced, at least in my international career. So the challenge becomes even bigger, but the desire is still there to do really well, go out there and do our jobs as professionally as we can.”

“Just like against Panama, on a given day, anything can happen. I am very hopeful. Obviously, it is going to be a very difficult game, and we have to be prepared for that," Sandhu added.

“But we should also not think too much about what Brazil might do. We have to think about what we can do to hurt them as well. It goes both ways. At the moment, we just need to keep our heads down, prepare properly and be ready to give everything again.”