It was the first moment of real quality that India’s under-23s had managed to muster in the final third. Jewel Raja Shaikh, receiving the ball from right winger Lalrindika Ralte, strode forward a couple of paces. The Qatar defence backed off. Spotting Jeje Lalpekhlua darting towards the left post, Jewel slotted the ball into his path. One-on-one with keeper Saad Al Sheeb, Jeje’s predatory instincts failed him – his near-post effort was neither driven low and hard under Al Sheeb’s diving frame nor slammed over it. Already a goal up, another at this point, 72 minutes into the second leg at the Balewadi Stadium, would have made it 2-0 and put India in a position to go through to the group stages of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics, on away goals.
The Indians were still pondering what-ifs when they realised the ball was in their half, advancing threateningly down their left. Fadhl Omar in the Qatar midfield stepped inside and curled the ball across the penalty area, into the path of left winger Mohammed Salah, who opened his left foot and placed the ball crisply into the far corner. One-all. Game over.
Missed chances
How different it could have been, if Jeje had been more decisive. Or, as early as the 19 th minute, if Ralte had struck his spot kick with more venom or direction.
A corner from the right flag had pinballed its way around the Qatar penalty area. An ineffectual clearance fell to Jeje on its edge. The striker looked for the quick lob back into the melee, only for the hand of Qatar right back Murad Hussein to interrupt its flight. Ralte stepped up, Al Sheeb dived to his left, stuck his right hand up, and palmed the ball away.
As coach Desmond Bulpin had predicted ahead of the match, the Indians pressed the ball intensely, high up the pitch, and kept it up right through the game. With both teams’ defensive lines pushing up, the game was squeezed into a narrow band either side of the halfway line, the back fours often forming parallel tangents that hugged the centre circle.
Given the paucity of space and the reluctance of the defenders to pass it short, India’s midfielders barely came into the game in the first half. But even the more technically adept Qataris struggled to string together anything incisive. Skipper Hasan Al Haydos managed to keep India’s back four vigilant with his dribbling and set-pieces, but the rest were fairly quiet.
At the other end, Jeje troubled Qatar’s back four constantly with his hold-up play, and the little flicks he employed to bring the wide men into the game. But India’s most consistent threat came, predictably, via skipper Raju Gaikwad’s long throws.
Midfield play
The centre back’s run-up, arms aloft, usually began on the third lane of the athletics track skirting the pitch, and often pierced paths between advertising hoardings. Qatar deployed a player, usually centre forward Al Ansari, to impersonate an excitable kangaroo close to the touchline, but Raju’s throws bypassed him with ease and discomfited the Qatar defenders without fail. Somehow, they never fell close enough to an Indian for a clear chance to ensue.
The goal, when it finally arrived, came in the 54 th minute, in farcical circumstances. Qatar left back Khaled Muftah, pressured into hastiness by Sabeeth and Jeje closing down manically, played a back-pass that caught his keeper out of position and trickled in at the near post. With renewed hope and urgency, the Indians poured forward. But they were sucker-punched by Qatar’s greater composure and know-how.
-Indian Express
The Indians were still pondering what-ifs when they realised the ball was in their half, advancing threateningly down their left. Fadhl Omar in the Qatar midfield stepped inside and curled the ball across the penalty area, into the path of left winger Mohammed Salah, who opened his left foot and placed the ball crisply into the far corner. One-all. Game over.
Missed chances
How different it could have been, if Jeje had been more decisive. Or, as early as the 19 th minute, if Ralte had struck his spot kick with more venom or direction.
A corner from the right flag had pinballed its way around the Qatar penalty area. An ineffectual clearance fell to Jeje on its edge. The striker looked for the quick lob back into the melee, only for the hand of Qatar right back Murad Hussein to interrupt its flight. Ralte stepped up, Al Sheeb dived to his left, stuck his right hand up, and palmed the ball away.
As coach Desmond Bulpin had predicted ahead of the match, the Indians pressed the ball intensely, high up the pitch, and kept it up right through the game. With both teams’ defensive lines pushing up, the game was squeezed into a narrow band either side of the halfway line, the back fours often forming parallel tangents that hugged the centre circle.
Given the paucity of space and the reluctance of the defenders to pass it short, India’s midfielders barely came into the game in the first half. But even the more technically adept Qataris struggled to string together anything incisive. Skipper Hasan Al Haydos managed to keep India’s back four vigilant with his dribbling and set-pieces, but the rest were fairly quiet.
At the other end, Jeje troubled Qatar’s back four constantly with his hold-up play, and the little flicks he employed to bring the wide men into the game. But India’s most consistent threat came, predictably, via skipper Raju Gaikwad’s long throws.
Midfield play
The centre back’s run-up, arms aloft, usually began on the third lane of the athletics track skirting the pitch, and often pierced paths between advertising hoardings. Qatar deployed a player, usually centre forward Al Ansari, to impersonate an excitable kangaroo close to the touchline, but Raju’s throws bypassed him with ease and discomfited the Qatar defenders without fail. Somehow, they never fell close enough to an Indian for a clear chance to ensue.
The goal, when it finally arrived, came in the 54 th minute, in farcical circumstances. Qatar left back Khaled Muftah, pressured into hastiness by Sabeeth and Jeje closing down manically, played a back-pass that caught his keeper out of position and trickled in at the near post. With renewed hope and urgency, the Indians poured forward. But they were sucker-punched by Qatar’s greater composure and know-how.
-Indian Express
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