India vs Afghanistan, FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifier HIGHLIGHTS: Catch all the live updates from the FIFA 2022 World Cup Qualifier match between India and Afghanistan through News18 Sports’ live blog. India, who are still winless in the World Cup qualifiers, draw 1-1 with Afghanistan at the Central Republican Stadium in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on Thursday. Here is the story of the match: India started the match with intent but Afghanistan were able to grow into the match and take full control of the game. India were trapped by the end as Afghanistan kept attacking from the right channel. Udanta, Ashique, Sahal and Chhetri have not been able to create too many clear-cut chances even though Ashique’s pace has been troublesome at times. In the stoppage time of the first half, Afghanistan dealt India a blow as Zelfy Narzary finished a brilliant David Najem pass from the right to find the back of the net. Igor Stimac made three changes in the second half bringing on Farukh Choudhary, Manvir Singh and Seiminlen Doungel to bolster the team’s attacking threat. Farukh’s pace, Manvir’s presence and then Doungel’s instinct helped India keep the Afghan defence under pressure for the entirety of the second half. There were a couple of chances for Sunil Chhetri, who was denied twice, as Afghan barely held on. However, their resistance was broken by the FC Goa duo in stoppage time when Doungel headed in a Brandon Fernandes corner to find India’s equaliser.
India remain placed on fourth in the Group E table of the World Cup Qualifiers with just three points from four games. India had lost to Oman 2-1 in their opener before playing out 0-0 and 1-1 draws against Qatar and Bangladesh, respectively. They then played out another draw with Afghanistan to remain winless in the campaign. Afghanistan, on the other hand, sit on third with four points from four matches. LIVE STREAMING
India are to play in tough conditions – chilly weather and artificial turf – as they look to keep up their hopes in the World Cup qualifiers. When India landed in Dushanbe on Wednesday, they were greeted with the mercury hovering around 6-7 degrees Celsius. India’s head coach Igor Stimac was vary of the physical presence and stamina of the Afghanistan side and said it would be a difficult game.
Meanwhile, Anoush Dastagiv, Afghanistan head coach mentioned though it’s not their own country, they get “confidence” when they play in Dushanbe. “Here, people speak our language. We feel at home. Whenever we play in front of Afghani crowd, we never fail to get positive results. We hope we can get something closer to that tomorrow (Thursday) as well,” he said.
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