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Had it not been for the poor referring, the score-line of UAE versus India, Second Round of 2014 World Cup Qualifier could have been different and India would have been in a better position to look forward to the next round.
However, the Qatari referee, Mohammed Al Dosari, spoilt the scuffle in a span of 4 minutes when he handed red cards to two Indian players; including Goalkeeper Subrata Pal for what doesn’t seems to be a red card offence.
Defender Debabrata Roy was handed the marching order in the 19th minute, when he pulled down Al Wehaibi inside the box. Penalty looked obvious for the offence but the referee pulling out the red card was something unnecessary. Roy was not the last man standing between the Arabs and the goal, Indian Goalkeeper Subrata was still present beneath the bar.
In return, Hamdan Al Kamali scored from the spot and put the host ahead by a goal. The Indians, who were still lamenting Debabrata’s sent off, were in for another shock four minutes later when the referee came rushing towards the Indian Goalkeeper, Subrata Paul and flash a red card.
Click Here for Complete Results of Asia 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier – Second Round, First Leg
Subrata’s fault: He latched on to a free-kick taken from outside the box and was protecting the ball with his knee-up when UAE forward Ismail Al Hammadi came charging towards him. Next moment, the Al-Ahli FC forward was down to the ground holding his abdomen. Replay clearly shows that the striker had not suffered any contact on his abdomen though he clung on to it. It was rather his elbow that came in contact with Subrata.
Watch the video and have your say.
Subrata in no way can be red carded here as he had the ball with him and he was not the one charging towards the opponent. At the most, he could have been shown a yellow card for raising his knee. This infuriated the Indians and the game came to halt for about six minutes when it seemed as if the visitors were going to walk out of the match.
However with the intervention of the AFC officials the match resumed with Colaco making a structural changes where he had to sacrifice the vibrant Steven Dias for Goalkeeper Karanjit Singh. Mohamed Al Shehhi converted from the spot and the hosts were leading 2-0. The referee killed the game by this time.
India never looked to be comfortable with nine men as they had to defend and Chhetri had to fall back in the midfield with Jeje playing alone up front. UAE on the other hand never seemed to be the team that routed India 5-0 last year as they failed to take much advantage of India’s miseries. They however managed a goal in the 81st minute and the match ended 3-0, thanks to some fine save by Karanjit Singh.
Post match, Indian Coach Armando Colaco sounded a warning that AIFF might not let the referee walk free for his wrong decisions, as it position India in a tough situation to progress to the next round. “The referee is also human. But to walk away is something I don’t think my federation would allow,” said Armando.
Criticizing the Red Cards shown by the referee, Colaco said, “I think the red cards were unnecessary. The referee killed the game. It would have been a very nice game.”
