A dominant Qatar beat India 1-0 within the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifier on the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, in Doha. Qatar’s Abdel Aziz Hatim made the distinction between the 2 sides, slotting in a thirty fourth minute winner.
The final time the 2 groups met in September 2019, India had held the Asian champions to a goalless draw. Courtesy the outcome, India keep on three factors from six matches, whereas Qatar sit fairly on prime of Group E with 19 factors from seven matches.
Qatar, as they’re wont to, performed it amongst themselves proper from the kick-off of their effort to discover areas via the Indian midfield. They earned their first nook within the second minute however the shot from Abdelkarim Hassan sailed over.
The very subsequent minute, the Asian champions had their first shy on the Indian aim however Gurpreet Singh Sandhu dived low to his proper to acquire Abdel Aziz Hatim’s grounder.
The Indian soccer workforce did sniff a counter within the seventh minute when Manvir Singh latched on to a free ball and laid off it for Bipin Singh on the left flank, however the latter was not in a position to discover anyone along with his cross.
The first yellow card of the night was flashed to Rahul Bheke on the eighth minute for a deal with on rival captain Hassal Al Haydos. 10 minutes later, the impression was bigger – Bheke was given marching orders after receiving his second yellow card of the match for a handball offence. The resultant vicious roller from Haydos was punched away by Gurpreet.
In between Sunil did chest a protracted ball within the eleventh minute however was shielded by Musaab Khidir at the same time as he acrobatically tried to have a join. Manvir did handle acquire it and tried to make an inroad, however was thwarted.
With India down to 10 males, Qatar’s domination additional elevated. Suresh Singh moved into the vacant slot left over after Bheke was red-carded, and the teen caught to the fundamentals, urgent laborious and was not overawed, given the truth that he was preventing it out with the 2 of the perfect from the continent – Al Haydos and AbdelKarim.
India had their first actual probability within the twenty ninth minute when Ashique Kuruniyan managed to slip previous his marker and essayed it behind the line of defense for an onrushing Manvir. But the striker’s contact let him down from what was a transparent probability for India.
Five minutes later, Qatar surged into the lead. Abdelkarim discovered Almoez Ali contained in the field, who turned and laid it off for Abdel Aziz. The jungle of legs didn’t enable the latter to have a transparent shot on aim, however he being allowed the posh of that further cut up second, Abdel Aziz managed to ship it previous Gurpreet.
Qatar dominated, India pressed and stored it compact. A counter on the forty second minute, nonetheless, nearly led to the equaliser. Sunil, with all his expertise, shielded Bassam Alrawi as he discovered Manvir. The lanky ahead, sidestepped, went on the skin, after which swivelled the opposite means to open up a left footer, however this shot was blocked by a melee of Qatari legs.
The Indian soccer workforce had an in depth shave in added time, this time Gurpreet conserving AbdelKarim at bay, as Qatar headed into the interval with a solitary aim lead. However, it didn’t finish on a candy notice for India within the first half, as Head Coach Igor Stimac was flashed a yellow card.
Changing over, Udanta Singh got here in for Sunil Chhetri, the armband being worn by Sandesh Jhingan. And nearly instantly after, Gurpreet had to be at his finest to thwart Abdel Karim from point-blank vary.
Six minutes later, he palmed away a snap shot off Mohammed Muntari who with a swift flip had foxed everybody within the field.
There was no doubting Qatar’s complete dominance, they usually earned a barrage of corners in the course of the part however they couldn’t create the impression they meant to.
Meanwhile, Gurpreet’s heroics continued. His bodily presence, these huge arms, reflexes and angle as he fisted, punched, and even used his legs to most impact to thwart Qatar.
In the 68th minute, Lalengmawia ‘Apuia’ Ralte changed debutant Glan Martins, after which within the seventy fifth minute Akash Misra got here in for Bipin Singh. Apuia was calm and stored transferring into the vacant areas to present assist each time India had possession. One such event got here within the 76th minute when Apuia and Akash performed a one-two and laid it for Ashique. But the latter couldn’t maintain it within the slot for both Udanta or Manvir – the rival defence intercepting it.
The subsequent minute, Almoez Ali was yellow carded for bringing down Suresh Singh from behind.
Stimac launched a double substitution within the 84th minute, Abdul Sahal coming in for Ashique and Liston Colaco changing Suresh.
Qatar had their finest probability of the second half with about 4 minutes of regulation time left on the clock, when substitute Abdullah Alahraq rifled a long-ranger onto the close to publish. However, the ball ricocheted and went out of play. Sandesh Jhingan made a one final effort to launch a counter for India in damage time as he charged down the pitch and tried to play Manvir Through on aim. However, a last-ditch deal with by the Qatari defence meant that the match ended within the latter’s favour.
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