Shocking incapacity of South Korean match officers to identify that all the ball had gone out fetched Qatar an equaliser that shouldn’t have been earlier than Ahmed Alrawi struck a dagger by means of India. Till the 73rd minute, it regarded like India could be the second crew to qualify from Group A. Lallianzuala Chhangte had given India the lead within the thirty seventh minute and put them on target for a uncommon away win on this FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Disaster struck then nevertheless it wasn’t India’s fault. Solid all night time like the remainder of the crew whereas defending, Jeakson Singh conceded a free-kick however the ball had gone out by the point Alhashmi Mohialdin pulled it again for Youssef Aymen to stab it house. India protested however with no VAR, the objective stood. Alrawi’s roller from vary got here minutes earlier than Kuwait struck in opposition to Afghanistan which means India would wish a win now. Kuwait joined Qatar, who gained 2-1 on the night time, within the third spherical after India ended on 5 factors with Afghanistan. It is the hope that kills you.
Against Qatar you often undergo. India knew that. Sure within the air, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu’s reflex save denied Alhashmi Mohialdin and in successive video games the India goalie, now captain too, produced a strong present. In the twelfth minute, Alrawi’s immediate was saved by Mehtab Singh though the India central defender was off steadiness.
In 2019, Sandhu wanted to face tall, actually and metaphorically, making 11 saves to maintain the scoreline 0-0. When the groups met once more in Doha in 2021, the world and the thought of home-and-away World Cup qualifiers ripped aside by Covid-19, Sandhu made 9 saves as India, after enjoying for 75 minutes with 10 following Rahul Bheke’s purple card, misplaced 0-1.
Before Tuesday, that was the one objective India had conceded within the lair of the two-time Asian champions. Exactly the form of good news that may get a crew to do the sudden. That Qatar, who’re 87 slots above India in FIFA rankings, had been fielding a younger aspect was one other. Only three gamers had 20 caps or extra, the full video games for the beginning 11 a little bit greater than Sandhu’s 73.
The sobering bit got here within the lack of fluency within the ultimate third. India hadn’t scored from open play since November 16, 2023. And solely as soon as in six video games thereafter, a Sunil Chhetri penalty in opposition to Afghanistan in Guwahati final March. In 2023, India scored 21 targets in 16 video games. Chhetri had scored 9 of them. That has been the character of India’s dependence on him.
After Chhetri, Chhangte and Naorem Mahesh had essentially the most targets final yr, three every. For two successive seasons, Chhangte has been capable of produce numbers spectacular sufficient to counsel that he could possibly be a worthy successor to Chhetri. ISL groups know of his capacity to make darting runs into the world; Brandon Fernandes and Jay Gupta would have had nightmares given how Chhangte ripped FC Goa within the first leg of this season’s semi-final doing simply that.
In Doha, Gupta and Fernandes mixed to seek out Chhangte who was deployed centrally. Gupta’s throw-in discovered Fernandes who noticed area the place a run could possibly be made to fulfill the ball. With a defender on his shoulder, Chhangte stabbed house. The ball had pinged off his legs minutes earlier after Manvir Singh had stolen possession and his shot had ricocheted off goalie Shehab Ellethy, however this time Chhangte was to not be denied. The objective got here throughout a spell of India’s domination throughout which Rahim Ali’s move skidded throughout the face of objective.
Stimac had spoken in regards to the Kuwait-Afghanistan match beginning two hours after India-Qatar. Tuesday was precisely a fortnight from the forty second anniversary of the “Disgrace of Gijon” when West Germany and Austria colluded to remove Algeria from the 1982 World Cup. To suppose that in spite of everything these years, and when final spherical video games beginning concurrently in leagues and worldwide competitions is the norm, they might play two hours after India-Qatar started was unusual. Or “surprised” as Stimac stated at Monday’s pre-match press convention.
Both matches beginning on the identical time might have felt like India making a degree earlier than kick-off. For a lot of the night time at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, it regarded like India would get three. A marketing campaign that had seen India win an away World Cup qualifier after over 20 years almost had two. Instead, the tip would have felt just like the late heartbreak in opposition to Bahrain within the 2019 Asian Cup finals. Or worse, as a result of that night time India weren’t robbed.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
