2022 World Cup qualifiers: Fighting India keep Qatar at bay to secure honourable goalless draw

The Sunil Chhetri-less Indian team survived constant onslaught from the Asian champions Qatar to earn an honourable goalless draw in the Group E match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 joint qualifiers in Doha on Tuesday.

The Indian defenders rose to the occasion everytime their citadel was threatened by the hosts. The Blue Tigers began cautiously while The Maroons were on the offensive, the latter’s attempts to go ahead in the scoresheet foiled smartly by Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the first 5 minutes.

In the 10th minute, Sandhu parried away a fierce shot from outside the box by Hassan Al-Haydos. The Indian defence were kept busy with Adil Ahmed Khan sticking out his leg to steal the ball just when Almoez Ali looked to run away in the gap in the 20th minute.

Adil was at it again when he rose above the rest to head away a Qatari freekick in the 36th. Goalkeeper maintained his composure in the closing stages of the first half, twice pulling off fine saves off Abdelkarim Hassan, first collecting a 30-yard drive in the 41st and then pulling off a blinder against a shot sent from outside the box in the 45th. There was no change in the scoreline in the second half with Indians staving off the Qataris.

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Qatar 0 drew India 0