India U-19 suffer a 2-0 defeat against France U-19

India U-19 suffer a 2-0 defeat against France U-19

The Indian U-19 football team failed to open their account at their exposure tournament in Croatia as they lost to France by a score of 2-0 today. With this, Indian Colts ended their campaign at the four-nation tournament with no wins and consecutive defeats against Croatia, Slovenia, and France.

The India U-19 side has been on an exposure tour in Croatia where they played a 4-nation (Croatia, France, Slovenia, and India) tournament. The Indian team was thrashed in the opening game against the hosts who were clinical in front of the goal while Indian players were exactly opposite which led to a 5-0 loss. In the next game against Slovenia, the Indian players proved to be relatively better and showed high anticipation untilĀ the last minute where a goal in extra time led to a defeat. However, coach Floyd Pinto was not completely disappointed by the show put up by his players in all the matches.

ā€œAll three games were against high quality opponents, preparing for the Euro U-19 2019 qualifiers. I am extremely proud of my boys. Looking back, we were unable to take our chances, especially those against Slovenia. The only blip was the first half against Croatia where we conceded a lot of goals,ā€ Floyd said.Ā 

The game against France was one last chance to leave some sort of a mark on the tournament but Team India succumbed to the French in their last match. Goalkeeper, Prabhsukhan Gill made a few impressive saves in the early minutes to keep the French strikers at bay. But the French broke through in the 18th minute to take the lead in the game. The Indian players pressed hard and created a chance in the 34th minute when Boris Singh found Aniket Jadhav in the box, but the latter failed to convert. It could have been worse for India going into the breakĀ but Gill pulled off another brilliant save moments before the half time whistle.Ā 

Aniket Jadhav tried to create another chance in the 65th minute by attempting a lob but his chance was inches over the crossbar.Ā The French, however, kept the pressure on the Indians and got their second goal in the 73rd minute which proved to be the last major event in the game.Ā Indian coach, Floyd Pinto stated that he was happy with the efforts of his players.

ā€œI am happy with the teamā€™s performance in the tournament. The boys stood firm and restricted a far superior opponent for most of the match. Considering some of the French players are playing in French Ligue 1, our boys did a brilliant job. They proved that they belonged on the same pitch as their elite opponents. In such matches, it is imperative that we defend well. The two goals we conceded came from minor errors. We need to work on that aspect,ā€ he said.Ā Ā 

India will now make their way to Serbia where they will square off against the Serbia U-19 team on the 13th and 17th September.Ā 

ā€œSerbia will be another challenge and we are hopeful about carving out a win. Those matches will further help us in our preparation for the season ahead,ā€ Floyd concluded.Ā 

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