Football: UAE crush India 6-0 in friendly

Striker Ali Mabkhout scored hat-trick with goals in the 12th, 32nd and 60th minutes while Khalil Ibrahim (64th) and Fabio Lima (71st and 84th) added the other three.

Dubai: India suffered an embarrassing 0-6 rout at the hands of formidable United Arab Emirates – their heaviest defeat against the Gulf side – in the second international football friendly here on Monday.

Such was their performance that Igor Stimac’s side did not even get a single shot on target in one of the most forgettable encounters in recent times. Striker Ali Mabkhout scored hat-trick with goals in the 12th, 32nd and 60th minutes while Khalil Ibrahim (64th) and Fabio Lima (71st and 84th) added the other three.

India gave a good account of themselves in their first friendly match against fancied Oman on March 25 with an impressive 1-1 draw but against the UAE, they were clueless how to hold the ball, stitch the passes and create chances.

The gulf in the class and technical superiority was all too apparent, though India were without their talismanic skipper Sunil Chhetri, recovering from Covid-19 infection. Key defender Sandesh Jhingan was also rested as Stimac experimented with new players in his big 27-member squad.

The draw against Oman had given a lot of hope to the Indians who are at 104th in FIFA chart against 74th ranked UAE. But it turned out to be one of the most mediocre shows by any Indian side against UAE. It turned out to be the heaviest defeat against the UAE, obliterating the 0-5 loss in an international friendly in 2010 in Abu Dhabi.

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