Catch the LIVE score and updates from FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification match between India and Qatar
Indian football team during a training session. Image Courtesy: Twitter @IndianFootball
India lost this time but it was another superb display against a powerful opponents. An early red card to Rahul Bheke ruined the plans of Igor Stimac but his players gave their all on the field. They also had two good chances to score in the first-half. Offensively, this has been a better match for India compared to their previous one against Qatar. Now the team should look to collect six points against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Preview: Their preparation was far from ideal but India would take inspiration from the draw against Asian champions Qatar in 2019 when they face the same opponents in the second-leg match of the joint World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers on Thursday.
India had held mighty Qatar 0-0 in September 2019 here, a result considered as one of the best for the side in recent times.
But India are playing their home match here as the Qatari capital was chosen as the centralised venue for all the remaining Group E matches after the qualifiers were halted last year due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
India's performance, however, has gone south since then while Qatar, the group toppers, have come into Thursday match on a high.
They beat Luxembourg (1-0) and Azerbaijan (2-1) and played out a 1-1 draw against Ireland in the international friendly matches in March.
India are coming into this match after a demoralising 0-6 drubbing against the UAE in an international friendly in March.
On top of that, India's preparation has been hit hard as they had to cancel a national camp scheduled in early May in Kolkata. The team reached here on 19 May only to find that the players would not get the facilities they would have wanted.
Stimac himself had expressed the frustration, saying that it was "not an ideal preparation" for the World Cup qualifiers.
On the positive side, Stimac will have the chance to field a full strength Indian team after a long time with all the core players available for selection and without injury concern.
That 2019 match against Qatar did not have talisman Sunil Chhteri due to a viral fever and his return will surely boost the confidence of the young Indian side.
Chhetri also missed the two international friendlies in March, including the one against UAE, as he was recovering from COVID-19 infection.
"Qatar are one of the top teams in Asia. They have had some decent results against top European and South American teams in the recent past," Chhetri said.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Dheeraj Singh.
Defenders: Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Narender Gehlot, Chinglensana Singh, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Akash Mishra, Subhashish Bose.
Midfielders: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Liston Colaco, Rowllin Borges, Glan Martins, Anirudh Thapa, Pronoy Halder, Suresh Singh, Apuia, Abdul Sahal, Yasir Mohammad, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Bipin Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan.
Forwards: Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Ishan Pandita.
With inputs from PTI
The team, bolstered by the return of talisman Sunil Chhetri, is undergoing a preparatory camp inside a bio-bubble in Doha before its first match on 3 June against hosts Qatar.
The 23-year-old is currently training with the Indian football team in Doha ahead of next month's 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Qatar.
Though out of reckoning for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, India are still in with a chance to make the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in China.