10-man India lose 0-1 to Qatar in World Cup qualifying match 

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Playing against Asian champions Qatar with 11 men was going to be hard enough for India, but Igor Stimac’s side was left with the unenviable task of playing with just 10 men for more than 70 minutes of their Asian Cup qualifying clash in Doha on Thursday. The outcome was along expected lines as Qatar notched up a 1-0 win over India. India remain fourth in Group E with three points.  

Right-back Rahul Bheke was sent off as early as the 17th minute after being penalised with two yellow cards. The first booking came in the ninth minute for a foul on Hassan Al-Haydos while the marching orders for Bheke came after a handball eight minutes later.    

Bheke’s sending off duly dissipated whatever little hopes India had of coming away with a favourable result. After a string of half-chances, Qatar finally punished India in the 33rd minute. It was Abdulaziz Hatem who provided the breakthrough with a left-footed shot that got the better of India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.  

As expected, Qatar found their way through the Indian defence with consummate ease and kept mounting attack after attack. With India struggling to string together many meaningful passes, they were seldom able to get into the Qatar half in the opening 45 minutes.

The one chance India had was in the 30th minute when a cross from Ashique Kuruniyan on the left-wing almost found Manvir Singh’s right foot inside the box, but a timely interception from Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi helped them evade a rare moment of danger.

At the start of the second half, Stimac decided to bring on Udanta Singh for skipper Sunil Chhetri. With Chhetri’s presence set to be more valuable against relatively easier opponents in Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Stimac’s decision to take Chhetri off and not risk any injury to the veteran forward was understandable.

The pattern of play was largely predictable in the second half as Qatar continued asserting their dominance. A slew of Qatar players had chances to double the lead, but Gurpreet did well to keep India in the hunt at least theoretically. The lanky goalie was the star of India’s 0-0 draw against Qatar two years ago and he was in similar form on a warm Thursday night.

While India would have eventually been relieved that they restricted Qatar to just one goal, they need to be making better use of the ball if they are to do well against Bangladesh in four days’ time.