Niraj Kumar stars as India U-16s hold Iran to a stalemate
AIFF
Indian U-16 goalkeeper Niraj Kumar produced a string of remarkable saves at AFC U-16 Championship against Iran to help the colts secure an impressive draw. The result, however, means that India will need to win the final match against Indonesia to have a shot at making it into the quarterfinals.
In the first half, the game was dominated by Iran and it was only thanks to the efforts of Niraj that India managed to make it into the second half without being behind on the scoreboard. Iran did manage to beat Niraj once but the post came to India’s rescue as the teams entered the break without a single goal.
India started the game by maintaining a proper defensive shape while keeping players ahead in the hopes of launching a counter. They maintained the same tactics at the start of the second half as well but as the game progressed, India picked up the pace and took the game head-on. Iran was finally in a place to win the game in the 76th minute when they were awarded a spot kick. However, Niraj was in no mood to concede his clean sheet and managed to keep the attempt out and the scores level. This was the first time in 33 years that India had been able to Iran to a goalless draw at the Asian Championships.“We could have won the match. It was that close. But the boys gave their hundred
