India – Olympic Qualifiers
The Indian Under 23 went down to Qatar Under 23 in the first leg of the Olympic Qualifiers in Doha on Sunday. The Indians lost by a 1-3 scoreline. However, despite a poor showing in the 1st leg, India’s skipper, Raju Gaekwad is confident of beating Qatar when the two sides meet again for the 2nd leg in Pune on Thursday.
Raju Gaekwad was the pick of the players for India in the 1st leg. His long-throw ins created a lot of pressure on the Qatar side which also created India’s 1st goal early in the game, courtesy to Jeje for his fine finish.
The scoreline read 1-3 in the favour of the home side at the end of the 90 minutes. However, Raju believes that his side started positively and was strong enough in the 1st half. However, the skipper admitted that the 2nd half substitutes for Qatar took the game away from them.
Raju Gaekwad stated “We started off positively, Jeje gave us the lead and Kattimani saved the penalty but it was the three substitutions of Qatar that took the game away from us.”
Gaikwad further stated that the team looks in good shape and is pretty confident of turning the tables around in the 2nd home leg, despite trailing 1-3.
Gaikwad added “We are all charged up. This is our opportunity. It’s the home leg. The boys are prepared and are in good mood to beat them.”
“Our coach Desmond Bulpin gave us a detailed analysis of the game that we played in Qatar. He pointed out our individual mistakes, I am sure we are in a much better position now.”
It is indeed heartening to see the young Indian players charged up for their next encounter despite their poor showing in the 1st leg. The players look in good mood and possess a lot of self belief which can take them through in the home leg against Qatar on Thursday.
Tags: Football, Football India, India, Indian Football, Olympic Qualifiers, Qatar, Raju Gaekwad, Soccer
