India’s campaign in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup ended on Friday with a 4-8 defeat to Japan, at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Indian team trailed 0-3 at the half-time interval before coming back strong in the second half. However, they fell short to defending champions Japan, who topped Group D with their second win of the tournament.
Gakuto Kawamura scored in the 14th minute for Japan before Gaku Nawata scored a brace with goals in the 41st and 45th minute.
However, barely two minutes after the restart, Mukul Panwar pulled one back for India to make the score 1-3.
Shunta Nagano scored in the 52nd minute, and just two minutes later Kohei Mochizuku scored to make it 5-1.
In the 62nd minute, Danny Meitei scored, followed by an own goal by Daiki Miyagawa in the 69th to make it 3-5. Yotaro Nakajima restored a three-goal cushion in the 74th minute, but that lasted just five minutes as Korou Singh scored what would be the last time India would find the net in the match.
With Japan leading 6-4, Gota Yamaguchi (96) and Shungo Sugiura (97) scored in consecutive minutes for the final 8-4 scoreline to Japan.
India finish their campaign third in Group D.
They started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Vietnam before suffering a 1-0 loss to Uzbekistan on June 20.
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