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

“All 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,” Floyd said. 

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 break but Gill pulled off another brilliant save moments before the half time whistle. 

“I am happy with the team’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,” he said.