Kuwait ‘Top’ India 2-1 In U-16 AFC Qualifiers Tajikistan Blank Lebanon KUWAIT CITY, Sept 30: Down by two goals in the first half, one scored from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time by Salem Al-Bariki, the dream of the India U-16 — a product of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) Academies Project — came to an end at the Sabah Al-Salem Stadium in Kuwait. They were beaten by group leaders Kuwait 2-1 to qualify for the next round of the of U-16 AFC qualifiers. Down by an early goal in the 8th minute by an opportunistic Khaled Al-Enezi who followed a long ball to tap it past Dheeraj Singh, the Indians regrouped and Anirudh Thapa and Prosenjit Chakraborty stayed the two pivots who rotated, played the one-twos and split the defence, who with their physical prowess were denying the Indians. As the Indians were playing all over and all in charge, Kuwait, much against the run of play doubled the lead form the spot which was awarded after Dheeraj Singh had gathered the ball to deny Al-Enezi a shot at goal. Nuruddin was just a livewire down the right flank. He went past Mubarak Al-Enezi a couple of times to enter the rival box but the Kuwait boys stood firm in defence to thwart all Indian attempts. The Indian wards did create some chances and on one occasion Nuruddin from inside the box failed to beat Omar Mohammed who made a couple of good saves to take his team home. He was an epitome of concentration even as he stooped down to gather some powerful grounders, three of which could have easily bounced back, but didn’t. The second-half was totally one-sided. India played in the rival half all throughout and dominated the play but Kuwait defended and defended well and all that the Indians could do was reduce the margin through Krishna Pandit in the 64th minute. In the earlier match Tajikistan beat Lebanon 5-0. India finished on seven points with Tajikistan but the latter finished second by virtue of better goal average. After the final whistle the Indian boys broke down they were so close at so far away. Nonetheless they are determined to pursue their dreams
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 08:05:11 +0000
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