‘Nothing handed out’

Livid after the controversymarred 12 defeat to Qatar in a doordie World Cup qualifying match Indian football captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu called for a more aggressive approach by his teammates saying that the ldquounfortunate resultrdquo has showed that ldquoyou donrsquot just need the hook but the crook as wellrdquoChhangtersquos openerFollowing Lallianzuala Chhangtersquos 37th minute goal India led till the last 15 minutes of the regulation time and were on course for a stunning win over the Asian champions But the hosts scored an outrageous equaliser after the ball had gone over the line It was a stunning oversight by the South Korean match officials that left the Indians in disbeliefldquoWe had the belief we had the chance to make amends even after everything The boys gave everything on that pitch last night to make it happen but yet it didnrsquotrdquo Gurpreet said in a post on his X handleldquoYesterdayrsquos unfortunate result and the incident of the equaliser is a lesson that where we want to go you donrsquot just need the hook but the crook as well No one will hand us anything we have to take itrdquo he added Gurpreet took over the captaincy after the talismanic Sunil Chhetrirsquos retirement in their last match against Kuwait a goalless draw at the Salt Lake Stadium on ThursdayIn the 73rd minute Qatarrsquos Abdullah Alahrakrsquos freekick saw teammate Yousef Ayem attempt a header which was saved by Gurpreet but as the custodian lay on the ground seeing the ball roll over the line Hashmi Hussein kicked it into play and Aymen scoredThe incidentSince the ball had visibly rolled out of play the game should have stopped and then resumed with a cornerkick in this case as Sandhu was the last player to come in contact with the ball before it went out But South Korean referee Kim WooSung allowed play to continue Consequently Qatarrsquos Alhashmi Mohialdin pulled the ball back before Youssef Ayman guided the ball into the net With no VAR Indiarsquos protests went in vainAIFF seek probe into controversial goalThe All India Football Federation AIFF has lodged a complaint with the match commissioner seeking a probe into the controversial goal awarded to Qatar in their World Cup qualifier in DohaSources in the AIFF said they have asked for a ldquothorough investigation into the goalrdquo that was allowed by South Korean referee Kim WooSung despite the ball clearly going out of play during Indiarsquos 12 loss at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on TuesdayThe goal sparked widespread outrage as it deprived the Indians of what would have been their maiden entry into the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the 2026 editionldquoWe have lodged a complaint with the match commissioner and are seeking a thorough investigation into the whole thingrdquo said an AIFF officialIranrsquos Hamed Momeni was the match commissioner for this encounter The role requires the appointed official to supervise the organisation of the match and ensure that FIFA regulations are adhered to during the gameThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever