Goalkeeper Subrata Pal’s dazzling display and Tarif Ahmed’s brilliant goal helped India salvage a 1-1 draw against Iraq in their Olympic qualifiers at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday. Iraq started attacking from the word go. They stormed the Indian goalmouth half-a-dozen times in as many minutes, with right-winger Kerrar-j-Muhamed missing two great opportunities by a whisker. After initial nerves, the Indian defence settled down and began to thwart the Iraqi frontline rallies comfortably. Subrata was at his best under the bar. In the 28th minute, he came off his line to stop a surging Kerrar and saved a sure goal. The Indian midfield, however, cut a sorry figure with frequent mispassses. They were outclassed both in pace as well as skill. However, the frontline created a couple of good chances. In the 23rd minute, Joaquim Santa fired a volley from just outside the box, only to whistle past the Iraqi goal. In the 37th, Syed Rahim Nabi failed to make the most of a free-kick from outside the penalty area. The first half was goalless. India started much better after the break and made early advances into the Iraqi half.But in the 54th minute, a foul by Indian defender Prasad Bhola outside the penalty area earned Iraq a free-kick and Kerrar headed home a Haider-S-Husan cross for the first goal. Indians stepped up the tempo and in the 73rd minute, Syed played the ball inside the Iraqi box and right-winger Tarif Ahmed fired a low volley for the equaliser.More drama followed as Iraq attacked the India goalmouth till the very last minute. But an in-form Subrata saved the match for India. With the draw, India won’t make the Olympics. Iraq, though, advanced to the next qualifying stage. However, India coach Colin Tole expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance and said, “Our boys really gave their best and could have won had they made optimum use of the opportunities.”
