AFC U-16 Championship | India end fairytale outing with narrow 1-0 loss to Korea

10/02/2018

The Indian U-16 boys' football team went down fighting as they lost by a scoreline of 1-0 to South Korea in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship in Malaysia on Monday. A 67th-minute strike by second-half substitute Jeong Sang-Bin was enough to knock the Indians out of the competition.

Coach Bibiano Fernandes and the rest of the Indian U-16 football team rewrote history when they secured a quarter-final spot in the ongoing AFC U-16 Championships in Malaysia. India qualified for the knockout stage after a gap of 16 years at the expense of Vietnam and Iran and was drawn against Asian giants - South Korea in the quarters.

But a goal from second-half substitute - Jeong Sang-Bin was all it took for the Koreans to defeat a brave and valiant Indian team on Monday. This was the first goal India conceded across the length of the entire tournament.

South Korea, as predicted, dominated proceedings from the start as India chose to sit back and defend deep into their half as they have done so well throughout the tournament. In the 14th minute, goalkeeper Niraj Kumar was called into play and he made an excellent save to deny the Koreans from taking the lead. Kumar was arguably India’s best player on the field last night as he went on to make two back-to-back saves in the 34th and 36th minutes to keep a clean slate for his side till 45-minute mark.

However, things could have been different for India as minutes before the end of the first half, Ravi Rana’s shot from a distance forced the Korean keeper to make a decent save as both the teams went into the halftime break on equal terms.

India began much better in the second half, and almost caught the Korean defence napping in the 52nd minute when Givson’s first-time volley forced the Korean custodian to make another save. Two minutes later, Korea gave India a scare when a free-kick attempt went off the Indian bar. In the 64th minute, Niraj once again made a fantastic diving save to deny the Koreans from close range but minutes later, Kumar got down well to a shot from MS Choi but could only parry it to the incoming Jeong who slotted it in from close range.

Bibiano Fernandes made a series of substitutions as India tried hard to find a way back into the match and looked for an equaliser, but Korea displayed good game management and showed their superiority to emerge victorious and seal a semi-final spot.

The Indian team would have secured a spot in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru if they had qualified for the semi-final stage, but a loss meant that they would not be a part of next year’s global showpiece. However, Fernandes and the rest of the young team should be more than happy with their performance in Malaysia and will surely return home as heroes.

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AFC U-16 Championship | India end fairytale outing with narrow 1-0 loss to Korea

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