India were seconds away from picking up their first point in the ongoing BRICS U-17 tournament but a swift Chinese counter-attack and a well taken goal from Huang Cong saw the hosts sink to a heartbreaking 0-1 loss at the Bambolim Stadium in Goa on Tuesday.
This was India's third loss in as many games after going down to Russia and South Africa by a solitary goal respectively. Despite the loss, India enjoyed their best game of the tournament so far by some distance and tested Chinese fullbacks and central defenders on more than one occasion.
China saw a lot of the ball in the early stages of the match but when the Indians settled in, they threatened the opposition defence through their fleet-footed forwards. The first clear-cut chance for India came through midfielder Komal Thatal, who tried a clever lob over the Chinese goalkeeper. The ball went inches over the bar.
India's presence in the game continue to gather steam but they had to shake things up in the middle of the park when Ninthoiganba Meetei had to be replaced after suffering a knock. Against Russia and South Africa, India clearly came out second best in terms of size and muscle. Here, the two teams were somewhat on a level footing and it showed in the ease at which the Indian frontmen and the wingers attempted dribbles and shots.
In the second half, Indian substitute Shubham Sarangi headed from close range over the bar but the flag had already gone up from the linesman. With time running out of the contest, the Indians resorted to taking shots from distance, even coming close through skipper Suresh Singh and Sanjeev Stalin's efforts.
With seven minutes left on the clock, Chinese midfielder Huang Cong missed a sitter from a few yards out, skewing his volleyed shot well over the bar. Cong had nobody marking him and could have opted to take a touch before shooting.
Six minutes of added time was awarded. From a direct free-kick from 25 yards out, it was India who came close first, missing the Chinese narrowly.
With 20 seconds left, the Chinese broke away on the counter-attack, and the backpedaling Indian defence was too slow to win the ball back. Cong atoned for his earlier miss with a crisp finish past Indian keeper Dheeraj Singh to sink Indian hearts.
Brief Scores:
India 0 lose to China 1 (Huang Cong)
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