A spirited and much-improved display by India enabled them force a 1-1 draw with Doha Asian Games finalists Iraq in their last home match of the Olympic football qualifiers, in Chennai, on Wednesday night.
The first half was evenly contested. The Indian defence never wilted under pressure and always came upfront to lend a helping hand to the medios. The defenders did such a good job that the Iraqis could not even have a single good look at the Indian goal.
The Iraqis changed strategy in the second half and used the aerial ball often to split the Indian defence. They went into the lead with a set-piece in the 54th minute. Following a free-kick from the right, Kerrar J Muhammed headed the ball home.
The Indian defence held firm and the forwards tried their best for an equaliser, which came in the 73rd minute.
A measured pass by Syed Rahim Nabi towards the goal saw the Iraqis turn towards the linesman, thinking that he would flag for 'off-side'. Tarif Ahmed seized the opportunity and simply slotted the ball in.
Earlier, the Indian team management had difficulty in finalising an 18-member playing list, with bigger clubs refusing to release its players and injury problems to a few.
The teams in this qualifying round are India, Iraq, Thailand and DPR Korea. Two home matches have already been played, with India losing both matches against Thailand and DPR Korea.