London Olympics Qualifier: Qatar Starts Favourites Against India

Doha, June 19 (QNA) - Hosts Qatar start favourites against India in the first-leg match of the second round of the Asian zone qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games at the Al Sadd Stadium here Sunday evening.
Admitting this Indian coach Desmond Bulpin told local daily The Peninsula, "Qatar is technically a more equipped team than ours. Win or lose we are going to make things tough for Qatar. We will not play for a draw. We will go for a win."
Englishman Bulpin who took over from another English coach Bob Houghton said this while speaking at media conference on the eve of the London Games qualifier.
India has one injury worry with captain and key defender Raju Gaikwad who has twisted his ankle during a training camp in Pune.
Qatar coach Simondi Bernard was happy with the way his team has been shaping and was upbeat from the fine performance of his boys during the build-up tour of Spain, the daily said in the report published today.
Although the hosts start favourites Bernard was circumspect. "In football, the first thing to remember is to always respect your opponents. I do that. A win will be good for us, we are aiming for a win. But at the same time we are not under estimated our rivals," he said.
Qatar's London Olympics qualifier team line-up includes: Saad Al Sheeb, Hassan Al Haidous, Abdulkareem Hassan, Abdulaziz Al Ansari, Mohanad Naeem, Al Mahdi Ali, Mohammed Salah Al-Neel, Hamad Al Obaidly, Abdullah Afifah, Abdulkarim Al Ali, Murad Naji, Fahad Khalfan, Abdulrhman Tareq, Abdulaziz Hatim, Ahmed Saleh Khalfan, Ahmed Al Nahwi, Saeed Al Haj, Ahmed Sufyan Bo Noura, Fadul Omar, Khalid Muftah and Khalid Nawaf. (QNA)