India come back to hold Iraq 1-1

Chennai, May 16 (UNI) Coming into the match as underdogs, India put up a creditable performance, rollying from behind the hold formidable Iraq to a 1-1 draw in their penultimate pre-Olympic football match for the 2008 Beijing Games, at Nehru stadium here today.

The Iraqis, forced many chances upfront in the first half of the pulsating contest with Sunil Kumar standing out in the defence.

Custodian Paul Subrata, despite having his hands full, held his nerve.

However, into the second session, Iraq struck in the 54th minute when Kerrar-j-Muhamed who manned the frontline with Mostafa K Abdulla and Muhamad Ali Karem, found the target with a perfect header off a free kick taken by Haider-S-Husan.

Iraq were then looking forward to a repeat of their earlier match at neutral venue Jordan against India, in which they scored three goals in the second after a barren first half. But that was not to be. The Indians, with their attack in the hands of Syed Rahim Nabi and Saikh Tarif Ahmed, besides Joaquim Santan, caught the Iraqi defence off guard to restore parity.

In a swift counter, Saikh Tarif gained possession of the ball from Syed Rahim Nabi and tapped it into the left corner, before Iraqi goal keeper Md Kasid Khadum could recover and thwart Tarif.

Iraq could have scored twice more and forced a victory. But Halkard-M-Mohammad failed to convert two easy chances in the last two minutes of the contest.

The draw gave India their first points. They had lost to Thailand on home turf, to DPR Korea both away and at home, and to Iraq in the away match, before scoring their first goal as well as the first point in the competition. India will take on Thailand in the away match, the last in the competition, on June 7.

Iraq are scheduled to take on DPR Korea, over whom they are ahead by just one point with nine. However, both Iraq and DPR Korea have qualified for the final round of the qualifying competition.

UNI