UAE down India 1-0

India's hopes of making an entry into the second phase qualifiers for next year's World Cup suffered a setback when they went down 0-1 to UAE in an Asian zone Group 8 match in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The all-important goal was scored by Zubaith Khatir in the 63rd minute of the game, two minutes after the Indian captain Baichung Bhutia was shown the red card and sent out by the referee.

In a keenly contested match in front of a capacity crowd, India and UAE played their hearts out in what was a crucial encounter for both sides.

The teams raided rival areas frequently but were unable to find the goal. The first half remained goalless.

The second half saw heightened action from both teams as their desperation rose. The Indians suffered a major setback in the 61st minute of the game when Bhutia was shown the red card for kicking an UAE defender.

With its most inspirational player out, Indian defences went down for sometime which was capitalised by UAE forwards.

Within two minutes of Bhutia being shown the red card, UAE were able to find the winner through Khatir. Though India regrouped and went on the attack after that, UAE defenders steeled themselves and did not give any chance to the Indians to equalise.

UAE thus took a sweet revenge for their 1-0 loss to the Indians in Bangalore.

UAE now have six points and top the group followed by India and Yemen on four points each. India, though have played one match more than Yemen. India play Yemen in their next match on May 4 and Brunei on May 12.