While a dominant Qatar eased past the Indian men’s football team by 1-0, among the highlights for Igor Stimac’s side was their ability to hold on.
The Asian champions attacked in waves from the first minute itself but India, who lost Rahul Bheke to a second yellow card in the 17th minute.
It was a heroic effort from the goal-keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who thwarted Qatar and kept India from suffering a hammering on the night. Gurpreet had been the hero for India when they had kept Qatar down to a 0-0 draw as well in 2019.
India’s gritty performance was met with plenty of cheers from the fans in Doha and the players duly acknowledged them as well after the game.
Qatar, who curiously opted to shoot from distance despite the numerical advantage for most of the game, took the lead in the 33rd minute when Abdel Aziz Hatim scored with a left footed shot that deflected in off the keeper.
India too had their chances, with Manvir almost timing his run to perfection to finish off a swift move just before Qatar scored. The young forward was at the end of another move later on as well after Chhetri played him in on the right, but the move was smothered by the Qatari defenders. After the result, stay on three points from six matches, while Qatar sit pretty on top of Group E with 19 points from seven matches.
India play Bangladesh (7 June) and Afghanistan (15 June) next.
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