FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers 2019/20: Qatar vs India – tactical analysis | OneFootball

India stunned the Asian Cup champions Qatar when they played out a 0-0 draw at the Jassim Bin Hammad Stadium in Doha on 10th of September, 2019. This draw earned India their much-awaited first point in the joint World Cup 2022 and Asia Cup 2023 qualifiers after the Blue tigers had been beaten by a late goal in their previous encounter with Oman at home. It required a mammoth Man of the Match performance from the Indian Captain for the day and their number one in goal – Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who made a total of 11 saves throughout the course of the game.

This tactical analysis will consider how Igor Stimac’s Indian team managed to grind out a point by defending in low blocks of four against Felix Sanchez’s Qatar who threw the kitchen sink at the Indians only to be denied every time, with the Spanish and Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez watching on from the stands as the Qataris felt short of expectations.

Line-ups

India lined up without their talisman Sunil Chhetri who was out with illness and Ashique Kuruniyan with an injury. Brandon Fernandes and Subhashish Bose dropped out for Nikhil Poojari and Mandar Rao Desai. Rowlin Borges sat in front of the defence as the defensive midfielder linking play and sitting at the base of the diamond in midfield.

Udanta Singh and Manvir Singh started up front with Udanta holding the byline and stretching the pitch as much as possible with Manvir playing a much central role. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who also shares the dressing room with Chhetri at Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League was given the armband in the absence of Chhetri and it is fair to say he lived up to his billing.

India’s Defensive setup

Qatar’s lack of crosses

India’s Attacking play

Conclusion

Although the Qataris dominated the game to large extent and had 27 attempts on goal to India’s 2 attempts, the game will be fondly remembered by the Indians fans as the day when their goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu put out an absolutely mind-blowing performance and keep a clean sheet against the champions of the Asian continent to really prove his worth to his county. Whereas for the Qatar fans it was a story of two points dropped rather than a point won. Indians, on the other hand, will believe that this game is the sign of things to come for the rest of the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers and will give them hope that their team can qualify to the Asian Cup in 2023 if not the World cup in 2022.