The India Under-16 team kept themselves alive with a last-gasp penalty to draw 3-3 to Saudi Arabia Under-16's in a thriller at the AFC Under-16 Championships in Goa on Sunday.
The young Blues started well when Aniket Jadhav finished brilliantly, after some superb work by Komal Thatal who had set him up, to give the U-16's a sixth-minute lead.
Soon, they made it 2-0 after Boris Thangjam made a pass to Aman Chhetri who slotted it away calmly on the stroke of 22 minutes.
Saudi Arabia were back in the match after Abdulaziz Suleiman clawed one back for the visitors to make it 2-1 in the first half. The half ended with Suleiman being tripped in the box by Jitendra and Mali stepping up to take the penalty for the visitors. Goalkeeper Dheeraj Moirangtem saved the penalty, preserving India's lead at half-time.
The visitors started the half in the roaring fashion but they would not get their breakthrough till the 82nd minute as substitute Feras Tariq Brikan levelled things up after a floated ball into the box caused panic in the Indian box and crept in to the goal.
It was Brikan again two minutes later as the Saudi substitute back-heeled his team into the lead with seven minutes to go. With the clock winding down, India were awarded a penalty before Suresh Wangjam stepped up to convert the penalty in the 7th minute of injury time and rescue a point for the Indians.
This leaves India with one point and last spot in the group. Saudi Arabia are tied with Iran and UAE on 4 points. India have to win their last group fixture against Iran on September 21 for them to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Brief scores:
India U-16 3 (Aniket Jadhav, Aman Chhetri, Suresh Wangjam) draw with Saudi Arabia U-16 3 (Abdulaziz Suleiman, Feras Brikan X 2)
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