India show spirit, hold UAE to 2-2 draw but out

Team India showed spirit to hold the United Arab Emirates to a 2-2 draw after having been down two goals in the second-leg of their 2014 FIFA World Cup - Asian Round 2 home-and-away qualifier at the Ambedkar Stadium in Delhi tonight. But the draw in unplayable conditions after heavy rains didn't help India as they went out 2-5 on aggregate. The dream of the next round of Asian qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is over. The name of India will not be drawn on Saturday in the preliminary qualification draw in Brazil.

It rained heavily before, even during the game and conditions were difficult for both teams. One has to question why the match commissioner and referee allowed the game to start at all. To the left of the main stand close to the corner flag there wasn't just water on the ground, there was a mini pond of water.

India coped better with the underfoot conditions as UAE initially stumbled into the game as India did really to play the high and long ball was the only option on this field. Steven Dias on the right and Sunil Chhetri seemed to cope best with the conditions, but early chances where wasted. The UAE realised that they had to change their game and coped better as the half went on, but against the run of play took the lead in the 40th minute when striker Mohammed Al Shehhi headed in a cross past Karanjit Singh in goal.

India came back onto to the ground knowing they needed five goals to make the next round. Both teams slowed down due to the heavy underfoot conditions which didn't allow any combinations or usual ball play, often players would skid past the ball or the ball would abruptly stop. India continued to have more of the game, but again their few chances were wasted and the UAE made it two when their captain Mohamed Al Wehaibi scored in the 72nd minute of a beautiful long-ranger from the right.

But India did not give up and only a couple of minutes later youngsters Lalrindika Ralte and Jeje Lalpekhlua combined to reduce the deficit. Dika's left footed cross from the right was headed in by Jeje under the thunderous applause of the crowds. India made a late push for the equaliser and they were rewarded in the second minute of injury time when Gouramangi Singh scored with a shot inside the box after the UAE defence was unable to clear the ball. It ended 2-2 and this brought real joy to the fans who had braved the rains.

After the match coach Armando Colaco said, "This is the beginning of a new era in Indian football. When I backed the juniors, many had raised eyebrows. But the boys played a spirited game."

"Jeje is a strong boy. He just needs to make some minor adjustments to his game. And he is learning fast," Colaco added. "11 vs 11 could have been different," he lamented, referring to India's 3-0 loss in the first-leg.

"We always had a Plan B in place. The boys adopted fast to the conditions. We needed to run all over. The boys did that and that entertained the crowd," Colaco maintained.

UAE's Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec paid tribute to the Full House at the Ambedkar. "In UAE, we hardly get any crowd in a match. But here, the crowd inspired Team India to play to their potential. It's a positive sign no doubt."

India can surely take courage from the fact that the team came back from two goals down to draw against the Emirates plus once more the incredible crowd support at the Ambedkar Stadium, where people can out in numbers despite the heavy rains which lashed the capital. Especially towards the end when India did get twice onto the scoresheet it was vintage Ambedkar like in the Nehru Cups and AFC Challenge Cup.


MATCH STATS

INDIA 2-2 (0-1) United Arab Emirates - Goals: 0-1 Mohammed Al Shehhi (40'), 0-2 Mohamed Al Wehaibi (72'), 1-2 Jeje Lalpekhlua (74'), 2-2 Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh (90+2').

INDIA 23-Karanjit Singh; 16-Samir Naik, 19-Gouramangi Moirangthem Singh, 3-Raju Eknath Gaekwad, 9-Syed Rahim Nabi; 12-Steven Benedic Dias (63' 20-Lalrindika Ralte), 8-Climax Lawrence [C], 21-Mehtab Hussain, 15-Clifford Miranda (84' 13-Jewel Raja Sheikh); 10-Jeje Lalpekhlua, 11-Sunil Chhetri
Substitutes: 1-Sandip Nandy, 22-Laxmikant Kattimani, 2-Harmanjot Singh Khabra, 4-Rowilson Rodrigues, 5-Valeriano Rebello, 6-Baljit Singh Sahni, 7-Lalkamal Bhowmick, 14-Mahesh Gawli, 17-Robert Lalthlamuana, 18-Sushil Kumar Singh

UAE 22-Humaid Khasaif; 2-Lashkari Ibrahim Ahmad (90' 6-Juma Al Saadi), 3-Murad Yousuf, 5-Abdulla Husain Alhammadi (88' 18-Faraj Abdalla), 7-Mohamed Al Wehaibi, 8-Hamdan Al Kamali, 9-Mohammed Al Shehhi, 11-Mubarak Alunaibi (76' 20-Salem Al Rejaibi), 15-Ismail Alhammadi, 16-Mubarak Ghanim, 17-Jaber Al Hammadi
Substitutes: 1-Majid Altawila Alsuwaidi, 12-Mohamed Alhosani, 4-Hamdan Al Hamdani, 10-Khamis Al Saadi, 13-Ahmed Husain Al Musabi, 14-Farhan Alfalasi, 19-Ahmad Ali Gharib, 23-Anbar Mubarak Alaraimi

Officials
Referee: Abdul Malik bin Abdul Bashir (Singapore)
Assistant Referees: Tang Yew Mun (Singapore), Lee Tzu Liang (Singapore)
4th Official: Loew Thiam Hoe (Singapore)