A look back at Gurpreet Singh Sandhu's heroics against Qatar in 2019 ahead of crucial FIFA World Cup Qualifier clash
Gurpreet Singh Sandhu is set to lead India in their FIFA World Cup Qualifier clash against Asian Champions Qatar. The Indian goalkeeper was handed the captaincy duties after the legendary Sunil Chhetri called it a day on his international career.
This fixture is set to be the final match of Round 2 in the qualifiers. The Blue Tigers eye an opportunity to contest in Round 3 if they can manage to beat Qatar. However, it will be an uphill task as their performance hasn't been great this year, losing some important games which resulted in a dip in their FIFA rankings as well.
However, India's number one Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has fond memories against Qatar. In their face-off in 2019, the Blue Tigers pulled off a historic draw. It was a night to remember as the Indian football team stood up beyond expectations.
Coincidentally, India were without Sunil Chhetri in this encounter, who missed out due to an illness. Qatar came hard at India, creating multiple scoring opportunities. Visitors India were dependent on the stand-in captain and goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who had the responsibility of denying Qatar taking taking the lead on his shoulders.
The hosts registered 27 shots in contrast to a mere two from India. However, Gurpreet stood tall for India, bailing his side out of trouble on numerous occasions. He put up an excellent display, saving 11 shots from Qatar.
India's goalkeeper single-handedly stopped a relentless Qatar unit from scoring even a solitary goal in the Group E encounter. His impressive heroics made it a game that Indian football fans will remember for a long time to come.
New faces but same story as Gurpreet Singh Sandhu leads India against Qatar yet again
Since India's historic draw against Qatar in 2019, the team has seen quite a few new faces. However, the team's performance has not seen a lot of improvement. They have been below average, failing to beat teams ranked lower than them as well.
Under Igor Stimac, India could not score a single goal in the Asian Cup. Moreover, they lost all three matches, thus dropping significantly in the FIFA rankings as well.
The World Cup qualifiers saw India stumble upon a defeat against Afghanistan before drawing with Kuwait at home. That said, the task of qualifying for the third round now becomes even more difficult as they are set to face Qatar.
Given the captaincy, Gurpreet will be keen to lead the side and turn things around in this all-important clash.