With some luck, India would have qualified for the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. A classic case of being so near and yet so far. A series of 'what ifs' dominate the narrative as the blue colts dropped curtains on their U-23 Asian Cup qualification campaign on Saturday night in UAE.
What if India had not conceded the penalty against UAE, what if Rahul KP was not denied by the post against Kyrgyzstan, what if India's result against Oman had counted while ranking the second-best teams. However, if we stop brooding about what could have been and focus on reality, it was a still a creditable campaign from the India U23 team.