India go down fighting to Thailand 1-2, denied penalty

New Delhi: India were denied an injury time penalty as they went down fighting to Thailand 1-2 in their

second international football friendly match here on Wednesday. The home side dominated the match for most part but some defensive lapses and lack of finishing put paid to their hopes of taking revenge of the 0-1 loss to the same opponent in Bangkok on Saturday. They were also denied a penalty by Indian referee Pratap Singh in injury time when regular captain Bhaichung Bhutia, who replaced an unimpressive Mohammad Rafi in the 71st minute, was clearly brought down by a Thai defender. The referee blew the whistle but he chose to give a free-kick from just outside the box and India failed to score from the set piece. An enraged Bhaichung virtually dragged the referee and remonstrated to the assistant referee for which he was shown the yellow card. Bhaichung, who lifted the Indian attack to several notches up after his entry with some fine attempts, also made known his displeasure to the match officials even after the game, which is a part of India`s build-up to AFC Asian Cup in Qatar in January. For Thailand, who fielded a mix of senior and Under-23 players, Winothai Teerathep and Keawsombat Keerati scored in the 48th and 65th minutes respectively while N P Pradeep found the target for India in the 60th minute at Ambedkar Stadium which saw heavy downpour just before the match. Bob Houghton`s boys made use of slow build-ups to attack and had more possession inside the opposition half but the quick attacks through short passes by the Thais created problems for the Indian back four of Gouramangi Singh, Anwar Ali, Mahesh Gawli and Surkumar Singh. The keenly contested match was played under floodlights with most part under incessant drizzle. The Thais, who have come here with five senior players as they are a building a side for the November Asian Games, made the initial thrust and striker Winothai Teerathep got a fine chance in the second minute of the match itself but his right footer from the top of the box went straight to Indian goalkeeper Subrata Paul. The home side settled down quickly and gradually took control of the game and they got their best chance of the first half but striker Mohammad Rafi failed to finish. Rafi, playing second international match of his career, had only the Thai goalkeeper to beat after a lapse by visiting side defender Phukhom Suttinun but his left footer went wide. Thailand retaliated quickly and three minutes later striker Keawsombat Keerati`s header off a corner kick hit the right post. The visiting side were also denied by the woodwork in the 35th minute when left winger Dechmitr Wichaya sent a powerful shot from well outside the box which came back into play after hitting the crossbar. At the added time of the first half, India were again saved by the crossbar. This time left back Samana Nattaphong`s 35-meter hit shook the crossbar. In the second half also, India dominated with more threatening moves and possession at the rival half but failed to find the final pass. They attacked mostly from the left side with captain Climax Lawrence in the thick of things in tandem with Gawli and untiring Anthony Pereira. The home side also got some free-kicks from very crucial positions but could not convert them into goals. Third minute into the second half Thailand scored with Teerathep chipping over out-of-line Indian custodian Paul as the Indian defence was caught napping from a quick interchange of passes. India equalised in the 60th minute from a three-player build-up. Anthony Pereira`s cross from the right was headed down by Sunil Chhetri and off the rebound from a Thai defender, Pradeep slotted the ball home to the celebration of the supporters. Thailand took just five minutes to take the lead again with India conceding a soft goal. Teerathep`s first time header off a cross from the left beat the Indian goalkeeper Paul and his strike partner Keerati, who was left unmarked inside the penalty area, nodded home off the rebound from the crossbar. India pressed hard for an equaliser and Bhaichung`s entry made India looking sharper upfront but the Thais stood firm to the disappointment of a sizeable crowd of more than 5000. PTI