India down Brunei 1-0

India won the game but failed to make it to the final round of qualifiers for World Cup Football 2002 as they managed to down minnows Brunei by a solitary goal in Bandar Seri Bagawan on Saturday night.

Surprise-packet Yemen upset the applecart of the strong UAE 2-1 Friday night and are now strong contenders for the next round with 11 points and a return match in hand. India have eight points, with a match in hand, but they lag in goal difference.

The maximum India can now hope for is a second place finish in the Asian Zone Group 8 competition.

The action-packed match saw India grappling with a determined opposition who went into the match with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Though the Indians dominated the proceedings, the scoreline failed to reflect their effort. The visitors missed some crucial scoring chances and it was only in the 78th minute that a Joe Paul Ancheri header found the target.

A quick move from the centre caught the Brunei's defence off-guard. The ball deflected off a defender and an alert Ancheri, capitalising on the loose ball, headed in the all-important goal with just 12 minutes to go for the final whistle.

"Brunei played their hearts out as they thwarted India's forays more than once. They had nothing to lose and this affected badly our team's chance to score more goals," coach Sukhwinder Singh told PTI after the match.

Confirming skipper Baichang Bhutia's prediction two days ago, Singh admitted India were taken by surprise by a much-improved Brunei side. Brunei have had a disastrous run so far, losing 0-12 and 0-4 to UAE and 0-5 and 0-1 to Yemen.

"We put in a tremendous team-effort and all players contributed," the coach said.

India, who had complained about poor refereeing in the previous two matches with Bhutia vehemently airing his displeasure about some decisions, were satisfied Saturday.

"There were no cards shown to either side and it was all fair play throughout. I must say the refereeing was good and overall it was a good match..." Singh said.

India leave for Bangalore, the venue for the last match against the same rival on May 20.