India defeat Maldives in football

Doha: Substitute Subhas Chakraborty scored a brilliant goal in the dying minutes to give India a thrilling 2-1 victory over a spirited Maldives in a Group-D football league match at the 15th Asian Games in Doha on Monday.

The Indians, desperately needing a victory to brighten their quarterfinal hopes, displayed an attacking brand of football and were lucky enough to find the winner in the 89th minute of the keenly contested floodlit encounter at the Al-Saad stadium.

Bhaichung Bhutia and his men, who did reasonably well to hold Hong Kong to a 1-1 draw in their opening match, had three points from two matches and were still in contention for a last eight place. They will now take on title aspirants Iran in their last league match.

The Indians shot into the lead in the 34th minute of the contest with defender Surkumar Singh producing a stunning long ranger, which took Maldivian goalkeeper Imran Mohammad by surprise.

The goal-bound move was initiated by captain Bhutia who passed to Climax Lawrence, who in turn executed a square pass to an unmarked Surkumar.

Surkumar's blistering 30-yard shot bounced just in front of the goalkeeper and spun into the goal.

But the euphoria was short lived for the Indians as the islanders found the equaliser four minutes later through the hard-working forward Ashfaq Ali who pierced through the defence and slotted home from close range.

Both teams went all out to find the matchwinner and substitute Subhas Chakraborty, who came in place of Steven Dias, send the Indians into a frenzy when his angular grounder following a lovely pass by Bhutia, went into the goal.

The Indians, ranked 148th in the FIFA rankings, went into the match with an attacking frame of mind and coach Bob Houghton also strengthened the midfield to back the forwards.

Both teams played at a fast pace in the opening session and the honours were more or less shared as neither team could dictate terms.

After the interval, the Indians attacked with renewed vigour and came close on a number of occasions but lacked the finishing touch to gain an upper hand.

They unleashed a series of raids from both flanks but the Maldivian defence was equal to the task, thwarting most of the moves before they could assume dangerous proportions.

The Indian midfield again did a decent job with Climax Lawrence taking a big load but forward Manjit Singh appeared a trifle off-colour like in the previous game against Hong Kong.

The Maldivians, ranked 146th in FIFA rankings, also gave a few anxious moments to the Indians, particularly in the second session.

In the 67th minute, Ashad Ali broke through the defence with deft footwork but his right-footed grounder missed the mark by a whisker, much to the relief of the Indians.

The Maldivian goal had a close shave a few minutes later when a rasping volley by Bungo Singh flew over the crosspiece.