Doha: India produced a dominant performance in the second half but went down fighting 2-5 against Bahrain in their second group match of the Asian Cup football tournament here on Friday.
India, who lost to Australia 0-4 in their first match on January 10, trailed 1-4 at the breather but rallied strongly in the second half to show that they are no pushovers though there is 51 places difference in the FIFA rankings between the two teams with Bahrain at 93rd.
With this loss, India expectedly were eliminated from the competition though they have one more match -- against South Korea on January 18.
Bahrain striker Ismaeel Abdul Latif scored the tournament's first hat-trict, finding the target four times in the 16th, 19th, 35th and 77th minutes after his team-mate Faouzi Aaish had opened the account for his side in the eighth minute.
For India, Gouramangi Singh and Sunil Chhetri scored in the ninth and 51st minutes in the Group C match at the Al Sadd Stadium here.
In a fast-paced match, India tried to match their more fancied rivals, who missed out the bus for 2010 world Cup in play-off, but a goal-keeper misjudgement and constant pressure from their opponents saw them wilt and trail 1-4 at half time.
Egged on by a vocal 11,052 crowd at the 13,500-capacity stadium, mainly made up of Indians here, they regrouped and were the dominant side with the midfield combining well.
Strikers Chhetri and Abhishek Yadav, who started in place of Mohammed Rafi today, troubled the opposition defence many times.
Chhetri, in particular, was in the thick of things though he missed on a couple of chances.
India scored one goal through Chhetri in the second half, but they failed to use the opportunity of one-man advantage from the 62nd minute onwards and score more.
Bahrain's first goal scorer Faouzi Aatish was sent off by Malaysian referee Mohammed Abdul Razaq after he was booked for the second time in the match for diving without any foul.
Instead, India conceded a goal against the run of play to widen the margin of loss.
With this win, Bahrain, who lost to South Korea 1-2 in their opening match, stayed in contention for a quarterfinal berth. Ranked seventh in Asia, Bahrain play Australia on January 18.
The Indian defence of Gouramangi Singh, Anwar, Surkumar Singh and Syed Rahim Nabi were troubled by the fast Bahraini strike duo of John Jaycee and Abdul Latif several times in the first half.
India, who started promisingly, had some good moves and set piece chances but hardly troubled the Bahrain goal in the opening 45 minutes.
As early as the third minute, India almost took the lead but striker Sunil Chhetri missed the opportunity.
In a quick counterattack, Captain Climax Lawrence sent a precise aerial pass for Chhetri but the Indian strike's left-footer was tipped over the bar by Bahrain goalkeeper Mahmood Mansoor.
Two minutes later, however, Bahrain took the lead through a penalty kick after Climax brought down Faouzi Aaish who stepped up to convert it.
The near-capacity crowd at the Stadium rose on their feet with India equalising in the 10th minute through Gouramangi Singh.
Renedy Singh's measured free-kick from near the centre line was headed down by tall striker Abhishek Yadav for Gouramangi to shoot home.
The Indian euphoria, however, was shortlived as Bahrain scored twice in the space of four minutes.
In the 16th minute, Indian goalkepeer misjudged a harmless cross from the left and he allowed the ball to deflect from his legs for Bahrain striker Ismaeel Abdul Latif to fire home with a left-footer.
Three minutes later, Abdul Latif scored again with John Jaycee, who was left alone at the left side, setting him up with a cross.
Abdul Latif added another in the 35th minute after he was set up by Abdulla Al Dakeel with a nice flick.
Bob Houghton's boys fought back in the second session, just like they had stoutly defended against the Australians.
Six minutes into the second half, Renedy Singh, who came in second half against Australia but started today, got the better of his marker and then unleashed a powerful left-footer from the left top edge of the box.
The bullet shot beat the Bahraini goalkeeper but found the bar on its way. Abhishek Yadav headed in from the rebound only to find the bar again but Chhetri had all the time in the world to head home from another rebound.
Television replays showed the ball had already crossed the goal-line after hitting the crossbar from the Renedy shot.
In the 61st minute, Paul made a great save as he blocked a fierce shot from Abdula Al Dakeel in a one-on-one situation.
Chhetri had a go at the Bahrain goal in the 64th minute but he shot wide after being set up by Steven Dias.
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