CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress / ITDC News Bhopal : Poor refereeing robbed India of a chance to secure a historic entry into the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers as Asian champions Qatar rode on a controversial goal to emerge 2-1 winners in Doha on June 11, 2024.

India were ahead thanks to Lallianzuala Chhangte’s 37th minute goal but disaster struck when the referee adjudged Yousef Aymen’s 73rd minute equaliser as fair after the ball appeared to have gone out of play.

The controversial decision turned the game on its head as Qatar scored their second through Ahmed Al-Rawi in the 85th minute.

This was after the Indians came within touching distance of scripting history after going 1-0 at half time, with Kuwait and Afghanistan goalless in the day’s other match.

But the Indian dream lay shattered in a space of few minutes in the second half courtesy the controversial goal by Aymen and the ensuing strike by Al-Rawi.

Meanwhile, Eid Al-Rashidi struck the winner for Kuwait in the 81st minute. Qatar and Kuwait thus progressed to the second round.

Chhangte strikes

Earlier, playing barely five days after the international retirement of arguably the country’s greatest footballer Sunil Chhetri, not many gave the beleaguered 121-ranked India side a chance.

But Igor Stimac’s wards turned the tables in style and looked on course after Chhangte’s strike.

Chhangte, the 27-year-old winger from Mizoram’s Lunglei, struck the ball accurately into the bottom corner after a diagonal pass from Brandon Fernandes.

Having received the ball, he made no mistake in outsmarting his marker and broke the deadlock to silence the backers of the fancied hosts at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

It was redemption of sorts for Chhangte as he found the back of the net after failing to convert two chances created by Brandon.

The strike also made Chhangte India’s highest-scoring active player with eight goals.

A good number of Indian supporters also made their way into the venue and at times outperformed the home crowd when it came to cheering after Chhangte’s strike.

After weathering an initial wave of attacks from Qatar when the day’s skipper and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu pulled off a couple of crucial saves, India, without Chhetri after many years, began to put pressure on their hosts.

Mehtab Singh also played his part, making a goal-line block off a shot by Ahmed Alrawi, to keep India in the hunt early on.