CALCUTTA (India): India struggled to hold Bangladesh 1-1 in their Group E match of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and 2023 AFC Asian Cup China here on Tuesday.
Adil Khan cancelled out Saad-uddin’s first half strike as India, who held Asian champions Qatar 0-0 in Doha last month, stayed fourth in the standings.
Oman and Afghanistan are the other two sides in the pool.
“We couldn’t convert the chances that’s why we didn’t win,” said a disappointed India coach Igor Stimac. “We conceded a silly goal. We can’t expect to win the game. Bangladesh goalkeeper was my man-of-the-match.”
In Doha, Qatar overcame Oman 2-1 to stay at the top with three wins and a draw while India have two from four games.
The hosts dominated, but Bangladesh looked more threatening whenever they counter-attacked.
Saad silences 60,000 Indian fans
Bangladesh shocked the home side when Saad headed home a free-kick three minutes before half time.
Nabib Newaj Jibon’s almost threatened to extend the lead in the 51st minute, but goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made a valiant effort to deny him.
“Sometimes you have a great day. At times, you don’t. We don’t want to blame anyone for the result,” said Stimac, who joined the Indian team in May after Stephen Constantine stepped down in January.
