India U19 football team beat Tahiti, finish first in Oceanian Developmental Tournament

08/25/2019

The Indian under 19 football team got the better of Tahiti in the 1/2 place play-off to finish first in the Oceanian Developmental Tournament which was played at the Korman Stadium in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Manvir Singh (71') and Vikram Partap Singh (88') scored for the Indian colts on Saturday.

After winning the game against New Caledonia, Floyd Pinto’s boys were up against Tahiti on Saturday and the Indian youngsters dominated the proceedings from the very beginning of the game. However, the two goals of the match came in the second half through Manvir and Vikram Pratap.

However, in the first half, Ninthoi had an opportunity to score a goal in the third minute of the match but his shot went just over the crossbar and India failed to get an early lead in the match. Ninthoi had Givson Singh to support from the midfield and both of them kept on trying hard in the first 45 minutes of the match without any success for the Indians.

After the change of sides, Pinto brought in Gurkirat Singh and Manvir Singh and the duo combined well to put India ahead in the 71st minute of the match. Gurkirat passed the ball to Manvir who was waiting inside the six-yard box and made no mistake in slotting the ball past the Tahiti custodian.

Vikram, after failing to score in the 81st minute of the game, managed to find the back of the net seven minutes later. Gurkirat was again the player who got his name on the assist sheet as he had chipped the ball to Vikram with two minutes to go in the game.

The Indian under 19 team will now eye a good run at the SAFF U19 Championship which will be played in September this year.