"Sorry for letting a lot of you down" - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu issues apology for breaking Indian fans' hearts with horrific run in AFC Asian Cup 2023
India had a poor campaign at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. It was a complete disaster as the Blue Tigers failed to earn a single point from their group-stage matches. Moreover, India were one of the two teams that did not manage to score a solitary goal in the competition.
To make matters worse, they went on to lose all of their three group-stage clashes. Overall, it was a disappointing display from Igor Stimac's side in the AFC Asian Cup. Despite fans showing up in great numbers across venues and turning Qatar into a home away from home, all they got was an embarrassing and forgetful AFC Asian Cup campaign.
Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu became the first national team player to reflect on the country's performance at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. After over three weeks since India's last game at the championship, Gurpreet reacted to the Blue Tigers' display via a post that he shared on his social media handles.
Gurpreet wrote that he understands that India failed to make the most out of the opportunity. He also asserted that India is capable of doing well against the teams that they played at the AFC Asian Cup.
“As the AFC Asian Cup ends and after having some time to reflect. It was a tough campaign for us and we didn’t do justice to the opportunity we had. I know in my heart we can do well against these sides," he stated.
Sandhu thanked the fans for all the love and support that they showered upon the team. He also issued an apology to the fans, saying that the team will come back.
“Of course things didn’t work out. But that doesn’t mean we give up. We are extremely thankful for all the love and support we received while we took onto the pitch and just really sorry for letting a lot of you down. We are India and we’ll be back,” he concluded.
India failed to win a single game at the AFC Asian Cup
Speaking of India's campaign, they lost their opening game 0-2 against Australia. Next, they suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan. Failing to salvage any pride, India went down to Syria as well, by a scoreline of 0-1, facing three successive defeats at the championship.
The poor performance at the continental tournament has also affected India on the rankings table, costing them 35.57 points. As a result, they are set to drop by 15 places in the upcoming FIFA rankings, which comes as a further blow. India will be ranked 117, which is also their lowest-ever ranking since 2017.