The Indian under-23 football team couldn’t convert the chances that came its way and suffered a narrow 1-0 loss to Qatar in a preparatory match here ahead of the AFC Championship qualifiers in Uzbekistan.
Monday’s game was India’s first under the tutelage of new coach Derrick Pereira.
Three of the starting XI players were from the Indian Arrows set-up, while the likes of Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem, Anwar Ali, K.P. Rahul and Komal Thatal were part of the India U-17 World Cup squad two years back.
India was off the blocks early, with Mehtab Singh, Komal and Rahul coming close in the early exchanges.
Good save
However, it was Narender Gahlot, who had the best chance in the first half, as he jumped higher than the rest to send a powerful header towards the goal. However, it was saved by Qatar’s goalkeeper Yazan Naim Hussein.
Despite the chances created by Pereira’s men, it was Qatar, which got the breakthrough close to the half-time break, when a Salmin Atiq pass from the right was met by Amro Abdelfatah Surag, who made no mistake.
While a large part of the second half was played with both the teams trying to breach each other’s defences, Pereira made a number of changes.
Boris, who had come on for Rahul, missed a tap-in after Daniel Lalhimpuia had set him up with a square ball.
Rahim Ali had the best chance of the match in injury time when he found himself in front of an open goal, just 12 yards away from his target. However, he scuffed his shot, as it flew over the bar.
With this preparatory game done, the team will now turn its attention to the AFC U-23 Qualifiers later this month.