Qatar beat India 2-1 in a controversial match in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha on Tuesday to end their hopes of World Cup qualification.
The Blue Tigers took the lead in the first half after Brandon Fernandes’s mishit shot which fell kindly for Lallianzuala Chhangte who made no mistake from close range.
Qatar substitutes Homam Ahmed and Khaled Ali turned the game around in the second half. The duo dominated the midfield resulting in a wave after wave of Qatar attacks.
Qatar eventually got their equalizer, although controversially, when Mehtab headed a Qatari free-kick towards his own goal, and via Gurpreet, the ball went out of play. However, the referee was unable to spot it and let the play continue. Mohialdin Alhashmi rolled the ball back for Ayman who scored for the hosts.
Qatar took the lead when Al-Rawi side-footed the ball into the net from the edge of the box after neat work by Tameem Mansour. India did get a chance to equalize when the goalkeeper Gurpreet’s long pass was latched up by Jay Gupta resulting in a one-on-one situation with Qatari goalkeeper Ali Nader but he shot straight at Nader’s body.
The game ended 2-1 in favor of the hosts. A point was not enough for India to qualify for the next round as they finished third in the group behind Qatar and Kuwait. Afghanistan finished bottom of the group with five points. It was a hard pill to swallow for the Blue Tigers given the nature in which they lost.
“Qatar were lucky tonight, especially because they came back from 0-1 with an irregular goal. I can confirm that now because I have seen the replay. The whole ball was out of play and the goal was given” Indian coach Igor Štimac said after the game. “It shouldn’t be happening in today’s football because that goal changed everything in this game. It could’ve happened to Qatar today and I would say the same. I’m not looking for an excuse.“
“It’s kind of an injustice to my boys tonight because we were very close to winning this game and qualifying for the third round, but it didn’t happen. Congratulations to the Qatari team,” he added
This was India’s first game after Sunil Chhetri announced his retirement after a 19-year-long career. The new forward-line partnership of Rahim Ali and Lallianzuala Chhangte looked sharp with Chhangte getting on the scoresheet against Qatar.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
