Bengaluru/Doha, June 4: A 10-man India suffered a 0-1 loss to Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup champions Qatar in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying Group E round match at Doha's Al Sadd Stadium.
The victory took Al Annabi to 19 points, seven ahead of Oman who have two matches in hand.
A winless Blue Tigers remained in fourth spot in Group E with three points from six matches.
FT: India 🇮🇳0️⃣-1️⃣🇶🇦 Qatar
— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) June 3, 2021
Reigning Asian champions 🇶🇦 remain unbeaten in Group E and sit comfortably on top of the group standings 👑 #AsianQualIfiers #INDvQAT pic.twitter.com/zMpWlOBg4h
Felix Sanchez's side will take on Oman in their next match on Monday (June 7) while Igor Stimac's team will face off with Bangladesh the same day.
At the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Sadd, Abdel Aziz Hatem, who plies his trade with Qatar Stars League outfit Al Rayyan scored the all-important winner in the 33rd minute in a match completely dominated by the Asian champions.
𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄!
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) June 3, 2021
Not the result we wanted, but a brave display by the 10-man #BlueTigers 🐯 as we go down fighting against Qatar.
Let's come back stronger, boys! 👊
🇮🇳 𝟎-𝟏 🇶🇦#INDQAT ⚔️ #WCQ 🏆 #BackTheBlue 💙 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/GJFPrea00d
The two sides had played out a goalless draw in their first leg match at the same venue in September 2019.
But this time Qatar had the last laugh.
India vs Qatar: When and Where to watch Blue Tigers' FIFA World Cup Qualifier
AFC Zone 2022 FIFA World Cup Group E toppers Qatar, who are yet to lose a match, had waves of attacks with their eight to nine players in the Indian half for most of the time.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had to pull off a series of saves to keep the margin of loss small.
India, however, played with 10 men from the 17th minute onwards after defender Rahul Bheke was red carded after a second booking.
He had earlier received a yellow card in the ninth minute.
Daunting task ahead for India in WC qualifying round match against mighty Qatar
India did have two good moves in the match from counter attacks with Manvir Singh in the thick of things on both occasions.
India captain Sunil Chhetri, who returned to the team after recovering from COVID-19 infection, was replaced by Udanta Singh at the resumption of second half.
Blue Tigers, 'young’ and focussed, ready to face Asian Champions Qatar
Igor Stimac's men are two points behind Afghanistan (third with five points).
After the Bangladesh game, India wind up their Group E engagements with a tie against Afghanistan on June 15.
Both matches will be played at the same venue.
(With PTI/AFC inputs)