India crash out of AFC U-23 Championships qualifiers after Qatar defeat

Stephen Constantine said, "Congratulations to Qatar. They were fortunate to score a goal. I am proud of my players. Some of the boys were playing international football for the first time and they didn't deserve to lose this game."

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India went down fighting against Qatar in the AFC U-23 Championships. (Source: AIFF)

India made an exit from AFC U-23 Championships qualifiers after going down fighting against Qatar. Despite dominating in the second half, India could not equalise in the match that took place at Al Sadd Stadium on Friday.

It was India’s second consecutive defeat in the tournament, after losing to Syria in their campaign opener. With the win, Qatar need only a point to emerge as group winners to qualify for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship in China. They have a game remaining against Syria.

Despite a loss, India coach Stephen Constantine was proud of his boys as he said after the match, “Congratulations to Qatar. They were fortunate to score a goal. I am proud of my players. Some of the boys were playing international football for the first time and they didn’t deserve to lose this game.”

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“We lost because of another silly mistake. Another day, it would have hit the crossbar and gone inside (about India’s chance). They have shown fantastic determination.”

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said, “It was a tough match but we got all three points. India played a tough game and we didn’t play our game. In the second half, we had some good moments but in the last 20 minutes, we had a tough time.Our aim is to ensure qualification in the next game. Syria have very strong potential and it’s going to be a tough game against them.”