SANDHU RAISES THE BAR
Fourteen-nil. That’s the number of shots on goal Qatar had compared to India in the first half of their World Cup qualifier. By the end of 90 minutes, that stat read 27-2. Add to that 15 corners by Qatar (to India’s 1), and it tells the story of just how towering Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was under the bar; this was possibly the busiest night he has ever had for the national team, and he did not put a foot wrong. Here’s a look at some of those lightning saves that earned India an unlikely draw against the Asian champions.
10 min
Hassan Al-haydos comes in unchallenged from the left corner of the box, steps outside of a defender and unleashes a powerful shot. Sandhu has his goal covered, and dives low to his right to palm the ball away.
19 min
It’s Al-haydos again, with a vicious long-range shot that curls and dips towards Sandhu’s top right corner, but the alert goalie tips it over the crossbar in a flash.
33 min
Sandhu makes arguably the best stop of the night, though the striker is ruled offside after the save. A defence-splitting pass from Qatar’s biggest star, Almoez Ali, finds the unmarked striker Yusuf steps away from the goal, but Sandhu springs out of his line, tracks the ball, and snuffs out Yusuf’s first-time finish.
45 min
Another powerful shot from just outside the box, this time from Abdelkarim Hassan, and Sandhu thumps the ball away.
45+1 min
Qatar relaunch an attack almost immediately and this time Almoez gets the space to turn inside the box and rifle a shot through; Sandhu’s positioning is spot on as he dives low to his right to push the ball away.
75 min
Another low diving save, another example of great positioning from Sandhu as the ball pings around infront of India’s box before a shot is unleashed and Sandhu leaps to his left to get a strong touch.
84 min
Sandhu dives low to his left and parries off a strong shot from outside the box that bounces awkwardly right in front of him. He earns a bit of luck for his efforts as the follow-up shot goes off the crossbar.