- India played Bangladesh in the Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
- Indian defender Adil Khan scored an 88th minute equalizer to rescue a crucial point for India.
- India are on 2 points in the group and have very slim chances of qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
India held Bangladesh in a tense 1-1 draw in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. Bangladesh was a goal up till the dying minutes of the game until Indian defender Adil Khan scored from a corner to secure a point for the Blue Tigers.
India had traveled to Qatar in the previous qualifier game and played out a brave 0-0 game to keep the hopes up for World Cup qualification.
The game of Tigers
Kicking off at the Salt Lake Stadium, India was playing with their star striker Sunil Chettri, who missed the previous game against Qatar. Bangladesh started the game on the strong foot and looked to open the scoring in the early seconds of the first half. Bangladesh had brought their A-game to Kolkata and made some good moves that could have given them the lead. A string of horrible defending from the Blue Tigers gave away a simple tap in for Bangladesh striker Saad Uddin who scored the first goal of the game in the 42nd minute.
In the second half, India tried to attack the Bangladeshi defense but they were quick to make clearances and cause frustration for the Indian attackers. The Blue Tigers couldn’t replicate their defensive performance that was displayed against Qatar, as the Bengal Tigers had a clear opportunity to double their lead, but Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Sandhu was able to get his fingertips on a chip from the Bangladeshi striker Ziban.
The 61,000 fans who were present at the Salt Lake Stadium could breathe normally again as Indian defender Adil Khan scored a thundering header from a corner in the 88th minute to finally secure a point for India.
Twitter Reaction
Watch: A late Adil Khan equaliser helped @IndianFootball grab a point against ?? last night.#INDBAN #BackTheBlue #IndianFootball #WCQ #AsianQualifiers pic.twitter.com/4NZ8rWXKpI
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) October 16, 2019
India is currently placed 4th in Group E and has 2 points after having lost their game against Oman and drawing against Qatar and Bangladesh. The Blue Tigers will next face Afghanistan in Dushanbe on 14th November and will have played all their matches. Only the top 2 teams in the group will progress to the next round of qualifying and an assured place at the 2023 Asian Cup.
Indian are rebuilding too but let's give credit where it's due…and not giving credit to Bangladesh or the fans in Kolkata who created an absolute spectacle is doing disservice to @IndianFootball too! We lost 1, we drew 2, now let's go go WIN the next 2! #BackTheBlue https://t.co/E1QOhHTkq6
— Anant Tyagi (@AnanTyagi_) October 15, 2019
Yesterday India vs Bangladesh football match? Full power pack stadium win or lose we must needed this much of support everytime???????? #INDBAN #IndianFootball #WorldCup #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/D4KSnlwKC6
— Yogaprakash (@Yogapra67514731) October 16, 2019
The road is long But the belief is everything stand up for indian football ⚽??
We are INDIA???@BluePilgrims
Ps:India vs Bangladesh starts soon!
Finally the TIFO will be revealed! ?#MeccaCholoBondhu#IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/ceDoBmp1bN
— Chitrak Bhatt (@chitrxkbhatt) October 15, 2019
Streets of Calcutta ahead of the India vs Bangladesh World Cup qualifier match. The city of football!#INDBAN pic.twitter.com/lBYHX1YxRA
— Soumyajit Majumder (@SoumyajitWrites) October 15, 2019
