Sunday, June 19, 2011

Qatar to face India in 2012 London Olympics qualifiers

India will seek inspiration from their impressive show against Qatar in the Asian Games last year when they face the same opponents in the Olympic football qualifiers second round match in Doha on Sunday.
 
India were leading 0-1 till the 80th minute in a group match of the Asian Games in Guangzhou but conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes to lose the tie 1-2.
 
The Under-23 boys under Englishman Desmond Bulpin have not had the best of preparation as their short camp in Pune was hit hard by rain and they had not played any international friendly.
 
But with most of the players, who were part of that Asian Games squad are expected to start tomorrow, the visitors will look to continue their good work in the Olympics qualification campaign so far.
 
They had defeated Myanmar 3-2 on aggregates in the first round.
 
Bulpin had admitted that Qatar are the favourites, more so because they are playing at home at the Al Saad Stadium on Sunday, but are not unbeatable.
 
He said a draw or even a narrow loss would be a good result as they can do better in the second leg in Pune on June 23.
 
Qatar had more than a month-long preparatory camp in Spain. They drew with Real Madrid 'B' team 1-1 and beat Getafe 1-0 there.
 
On June 13, the Olympic team of Qatar routed Malaysia 4-0 in a friendly match

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