FT: Qatar 0-0 India
WHAT A RESULT FOR INDIA! They have ventured into the lion’s den and snatched away a point. Historic result for India. ASIAN CHAMPIONS 0-0 INDIA. Remember the day! What a performance from India. The FUTURE IS BRIGHT!
90+3’ Qatar 0-0 India
The ball safely lands in Gupreet’s gloves. Just a minute left now
90+2’ Qatar 0-0 India
India change: Narender Gehlot ON Anirudh Thapa OFF
90+1’ Qatar 0-0 India
4 minutes of stoppage time added on
88’ Qatar 0-0 India
Sandesh Jhingan has been a rock, clearing cross after cross. India hanging on. Just two minutes of regulation time remaining
85’ Qatar 0-0 India
What just happened there! Gurpreet makes a fantastic save. Qatar hit the woodwork on the rebound and send their header wide with the goal gaping. India survive! Something is happening!
82’ Qatar 0-0 India
SOOO CLOSEEE! A superb counter-attack from India as Udanata Singh sends a shot centimetres over Qatar’s goal. Qatar cut open there. Brilliant from India
79’ Qatar 0-0 India
OVER! Another chance goes begging for Qatar and the forward heads over
75’ Qatar 0-0 India
SAVE! Another fabulous low save from Gurpreet to keep India level. Qatar watse the resultant corner
75’ Qatar 0-0 India
India change: Sahal OFF Vinit Rai ON
69’ Qatar 0-0 India
India change: Nikhil Poojary OFF Brandon Fernandes ON
66’ Qatar 0-0 India
ALMOST! Sahal picks up the loose ball from the corner but fires wide. A half chance there. India have posed a threat this second half, Qatar are rattled
63’ Qatar 0-0 India
Into the wall! Qatar have a free-kick but it is fired straight into the wall. India hold on
57’ Qatar 0-0 India
Yellow card for Madibo! Gurpreet punches a free-kick away. Sahal latches onto it and bursts clear but is brought down. Mdibo was the last man but distance from the goal saved him
54’ Qatar 0-0 India
End to end! Sahal has been initiating Indian counter-attacks but Qatar almost profit from on a counter. But some last-ditch defending comes to India’s rescue
51’ Qatar 0-0 India
India have made a fine start to the second half keeping the ball.
46’ Qatar 0-0 India
Second half underway. Can India pull off a miracle?
HT: Qatar 0-0 India
Wel, well! Who would have though this was possible. India have held firm. They frustrated Qatar for the first 35 minutes. They limped through the last ten minutes but Qatar have failed to punish them. Big 45 minutes to come
45+2’: Qatar 0-0 India
WHAT A MISS! Lazy defending from India but Qatar forward fires it across the face of the goal. Huge let-off for India
45’: Qatar 0-0 India
DOUBLE SAVE! Gurpreet Singh Sandhu with two fine saves to keep India level. India badly need half-time
38’: Qatar 0-0 India
India sitting way too deep. Qatar are able to dart passes into their strikers inside the box. Dangerous times for India
34’: Qatar 0-0 India
India opened up there but the defence holds a good line to play the Qatari winger offside. Risky play for India. Can’t allow passes into the heart of the penalty area.
25’: Qatar 0-0 India
India working hard to close the gaps in defence. But they are vulnerable on set-pieces. India fail to clear the danger and Qatar almost profit
20’: Qatar 0-0 India
SAVE! Gurpreet Singh Sandhu makes a fine save to keep Al-Haydos out. The shot was dipping and it was slightly awkward for the Indian goalkeeper.
19’: Qatar 0-0 India
Qatar try to carve India open using Almoez Ali as the target man, but India keep their line well to play the Qatari attacker off
17’: Qatar 0-0 India
Corner count rises for Qatar but so far India have dealt with it without much danger. The hosts are yet to get into their stride here. Still warming up
15’: Qatar 0-0 India
India are playing in a 4-5-1 shape that turns into a 5-4-1 when Qatar enter their final third with Nikhil Poojary dropping in at left back and Mandar Rao Desai playing as a third centre-back. Good organisation from India so far
9’: Qatar 0-0 India
SAVE! Gurpreet makes a routine save down his right side to concede a corner. First real effort from Qatar
7’: Qatar 0-0 India
Good move from India there. Udanta bring in Manvir Singh who releases Nikhil Poojary in space but he is muscled out of possession. So far so good for India
1’: Qatar 0-0 India
KICK OFF! The home side get the game underway and go straight on the front foot. Adil Khan with an early clearance
9:59 pm: Qatar almost full strength
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez had warned his team against taking India lightly. His line-up is backing that though
9:56 pm: National anthems done!
Good support for India in Doha. The team will need every bit of it as they hope cause a huge upset against Qatar
Form Guide: Qatar vs India
Qatar: W-L-L-D-W
India: L-D-L-L-W
Ranking:
Qatar: 62
India: 103
Both these set of numbers fail to portray the exact gap between the two teams. Qatar are much better than their 62nd position and India are far worse than what the Fifa rankings show.
The games that Qatar haven’t won were in Copa America against the likes of Argentina and Columbia. India are very much in transition under Stimac. Going to be a very tough evening for The Blue Tigers.
9.28 pm: TEAM NEWS: No Sunil Chhetri for India
India XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (c), Rahul Bheke, Sandesh Jhingan, Adil Khan, Mandar Rao Dessai, Rowllin Borges, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul, Nikhil Poojary, Udanta Singh, Manvir Singh.
Qatar XI: Al Sheeb (GK), Pedro, Abdelkarim, Tarek, Bassam, Madibo, Khoukhi, Hatem, Al-Haydos (C), Almoez, Yusuf
9.15 pm: Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of India’s football World Cup qualifier against 2022 hosts Qatar.
A heart-breaking loss in the campaign-opener has dented their chances of moving ahead and the Indian football team faces another uphill task when it takes on Asian champion Qatar in its most difficult match of the World Cup second-round qualifiers in Doha on Tuesday.
India let in two goals in the last eight minutes after taking an early lead to lose their opening match against Oman on September 5 in Guwahati.
Ranked 62nd in the world, Qatar will start Tuesday’s Group E match against 103-ranked India as overwhelming favourites. They will look to claim their second consecutive win after crushing Afghanistan 6-0 in their opening match on September 5 in Doha.
The World Cup hosts have improved by leaps and bounds in the last few years. They won the Asian Cup in the UAE earlier this year and they gave good competition to the top South American sides in the recent Copa America where they took part on invitation.
India have also shown improvement in recent times as was seen during the Asian Cup in January where they gave scares to the likes of the UAE and Bahrain and missed qualifying for the knock-out round by a whisker.
Historically, Qatar have been the dominant side, having won three out of four official matches played against India. One match ended in a draw.
The last time the two sides played an official match was in September 2007 in the World Cup qualifiers where Qatar had thrashed India 6-0.