Asian Games Football: India suffer late loss

The India Under-23 national team suffered a 1-2 loss at the hands of defending champions Qatar in a Group D match of the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. India had taken the lead in the game, but conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes to miss out on the chance of a historic win.

Coach Sukhvinder Singh didn't change his starting line-up as had been speculated. He gave Jeje Lalpekhlua a start upfront along with Balwant Singh and kept young Jagtar Singh on the bench. Qatar had more of the action early on, but it was India who went ahead through defender Dharmaraj Ravanan following a corner in the 19th minute. And it was a surprise to see India more in control of proceedings thereafter in the first session, but they couldn't build on their lead as India went into the break with a 1-0 lead.

After the breather came a shocker for India as their goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani had to taken off after a collision with Qatari midfielder Mohamed Salah. On came young Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after 53 minutes. Qatar had more of the game in the second session with the West Asians looking sometimes desperate in their attempts for the equaliser. They got it through striker Ali Jaralla in the 80th minute through a looping header which went past Gurpreet. The match was now on the edge, but the defending champions got the winner through another strike from Ali Jaralla, whose left footed long range effort went in with two minutes to go. In the end it was all in vain for India.

Coach Sukhvinder Singh said after the game, "We really played well today. After going down to Kuwait in the first match, it's was a fantastic performance by the boys."

"We created many chances today and the way boys played well in the first half, it was a treat to watch and we were unfortunate to concede two quick goals, which could have been avoided for sure. We also missed two sitters, Balwant missed a one-to-one chance, which could have changed the whole course of the game," Sukhvinder added.

Now it is Singapore. After two losses India still have the chance to qualify for the Round of 16, only they need to beat Singapore in their final game on Thursday, November 11 and hope they are amongst the best four third placed teams in the tournament. Otherwise the football competition is over before the real games begin on Friday.


India Under-23

21-Laxmikant Kattimani (1-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu); 18-Denzil Franco, 4-Rowilson Rodrigues, 14-Dharmaraj Ravanan, 17-Robert Lalthalma; 11-Joachim Abranches [C], 8-Manish Maithani, 23-Jewel Sheikh Raja, 12-K. Jibon Singh; 24-Jeje Lalpekhlua, 10-Balwant Singh (27-Jagtar Singh)
Substitutions: 2- Abhishek Das, 7-Milan Ongnam Singh, 9-Raju Gaikwad, 15-Lalrozama Fanai, 19-Subodh Kumar, 20-Lalrindika Ralte, 25-Malswamfela