Gulf Times
A dominant Qatar were too good for India as the hosts won 1-0 in the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 yesterday. At the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Qatar stretched their lead in Group E thanks to Abdel Aziz Hatim’s strike in the 34th minute winner.
The last time the two teams met in September 2019, India had held the Asian champions to a goalless draw. Thursday, victory was never in doubt for Qatar even though they missed plenty of scoring opportunities.
The victory took Qatar to 19 points, seven ahead of Oman who have two matches in hand and will face Felix Sanchez’s side on Monday. Qatar only need a draw against Oman to confirm top spot in the group. Indian, meanwhile, stay on three points from six matches.
It was all Qatar from the very beginning as Sanchez’s men put India under pressure in the first minute with Abdelkarim Hassan blasting his effort just wide from outside the box. Hassan then had another chance at goal in the fourth minute but his effort off Karim Boudiaf’s corner was saved by India custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Despite defending deep, Igor Stimac’s side continued to show determination on counter-attacks with Glan Martins pulling the strings in midfield alongside Bipin Singh Thounaojam and Suresh Singh Wangjam. Qatar came close to scoring in the 15th minute after Yusuf Abdurisag did well on the right to cut back in and relay the ball to Abdel Aziz Hatim, who however hit his volley over the bar.
India suffered a blow in the 18th minute when defender Rahul Bheke received his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card for handling the ball outside the box. Despite being a man down, India continued to deny Qatar with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu foiling the West Asians’ attempts at goal.
However, Qatar scored the opening goal in the 33rd minute after Mohamed Muntari found space down the left before slipping the ball to Abdel Aziz Hatim who converted off a rebound from his first attempt as Sanchez’s side took a 1-0 lead going into the break.
In a tactical move, Stimac replaced Sunil Chhetri with Udanta Singh as India started the second half with hope that they could salvage a point against the reigning AFC Asian Cup titleholders. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who kept a clean sheet against Qatar in their previous encounter, continued to frustrate Qatar when he kept out Abdelkarim Hassan from close-range in the 47th minute and later Muntari’s effort from inside the box. The remainder of the match saw neither side able to find the net.
Draw dents Bangladesh, Afghanistan’s hopes
Earlier, Bangladesh scored late to hold Afghanistan to a 1-1 draw at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. The result did neither team a favour for their qualification hopes with Afghanistan moving to five points while Bangladesh are on two points. Up next for Bangladesh are India on Monday, while Afghanistan will face Oman on June 11 with both teams’ hopes of automatically advancing to the third round of the Qualifiers for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 hanging in the balance.
Bangladesh, who lost 1-0 in the teams’ first meeting in September 2019, started on the backfoot as Afghanistan dominated the early possession with Faysal Shayesteh, Ahmad Omran Haydary and Amir Sharifi forming a three-pronged attack.
Afghanistan had a chance to take the lead in the 13th minute when they were awarded a free-kick but Shayesteh fired his effort into the sea of Bangladesh defenders.
Bangladesh gave Afghanistan a minor scare in the 16th minute when Masuk Miah Zoni found a way past his markers down the left flank but his cross was intercepted by Milad Intezar.
Afghanistan had another half chance in the 23rd minute but David Ahmed Najem’s shot from inside the box was easily saved by Bangladesh custodian Anisur Rahman.
Anoush Dastgir’s faith in his strikers, however, finally paid dividends eight minutes after the restart when Mohamed M. Sharif set Najem free on the right and the defender found Sharifi who calmly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.
Bangladesh had a chance to draw level in the 74th minute when Rakib Hossain broke free of his markers down the right flank but the forward’s shot on goal left much to be desired.
Bangladesh’s persistence was, however, finally rewarded in the 83rd minute when Sohel Rana nodded down a cross into the path of Topu Barman, who controlled the ball beautifully before slotting home the equaliser past Afghanistan’s Ovays Azizi.