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India experienced a reality check at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday as they were outplayed by Qatar, resulting in a comfortable victory for the visitors.
India’s start to the game was poor as Qatar forced them into making mistakes and ultimately opened the scoring as early as the fourth minute. But as the match progressed, the Blue Tigers settled and began growing into the game and posed problems for the Asian champions.
Nonetheless, the score remained 1-0 at the end of the first half, and just as India were gaining momentum, they conceded another goal just two minutes into the second half. Qatar eventually scored late in the game to make it 3-0, thereby taking a commanding three-point lead at the top of Group A.
While the performance showed improvement compared to India’s previous encounter with the same opponents two years ago, there is still a noticeable gap between the teams.
India’s head coach Igor Stimac viewed the defeat as a valuable learning experience for his team. He went on to suggest that his side may have shown too much respect to Qatar.
"The game was what it was. Qatar were the better team, " Stimac said in the post-match press conference. "The physicality and the basic skill, the passing quality, final-third execution, it’s all there. It’s really difficult to play against them but I appreciate our boys’ commitment, and that’s something that we need to take out from today’s game."
"It’s a very positive thing. When you go down early in the game against Qatar, you need to fear a heavy defeat. That’s part of the learning process. And it’s a good lesson for us today – against a team like this, you cannot give away anything. Maybe we had too much respect for them," the Croatian added.
Stimac emphasized that the outcome against Qatar wasn’t his primary focus. Instead, he asserted that the match provided him with a clearer understanding of the team’s current standing, particularly with the AFC Asian Cup looming just a few months away.
"The result was not my priority today. There were some questions which were haunting me for some time. And as you already know, when we’re not having any more games prior to the game against Australia, I have all my answers and due to this huge remount of this game, I have a clearer picture and clarity of what needs to be done and who are the players who can go there," Stimac stated.
I don’t consider the Asian Cup such an important element for us – Igor Stimac
Stimac also clarified where the team’s focus lies, with pivotal months ahead for the national team. He believes that for India to progress, the primary objective is to secure qualification for the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, rather than emphasizing the upcoming AFC Asian Cup in January, where India will be up against formidable opponents - Australia, Uzbekistan, and Syria.
"Knowing that we’re not gonna get enough time for the Asian Cup, I don’t consider the Asian Cup such an important element for us. And I don’t want my players to get injured," the head coach explained.
"I need to make sure that we get enough points in our group for the World Cup qualifiers. So we make sure that we have another five to six home games in the third round here. And that will be a huge benefit for Indian football for the future. I was very clear that if you’ll give me time, I might show results, but without the time, don’t ask about results," he added.
Coming back to the game against Qatar, Stimac made a few huge decisions to drop certain key players, and it’s safe to say that the move backfired.
In particular, the decision to start goalkeeper Amrinder Singh ahead of the ever-present Gurpreet Singh Sandhu came under scrutiny as the former struggled throughout the game and made a couple of costly errors.
When asked about his rationale behind this decision, Stimac replied:
Many of you were surprised to see Amrinder (Singh) instead of Gurpeet (Singh Sandhu) who had two fantastic games against Qatar. He’s our first choice goalkeeper. We don’t have any doubt about that. But you know why he’s our first choice? Because Amrinder is always pushing him."
India have unquestionably shown progress over the past year, a fact evident even in the face of defeat against Qatar. However, results ultimately matter, and Stimac will hope that his team can improve their composure under pressure as they approach the AFC Asian Cup in January and the World Cup qualifiers in March.
