The Indian men’s Under-19 football team, preparing for the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers later this year, lost 2-1 to Oman U-19 in Turkey on Friday.
The Indians started the match on a defensive note with the opponents having higher possession in the first half. In the 34th minute, Oman took the lead to go into half-time at 1-0.
Changing over, the Indian players started to dominate possession early in the second half and Ninthoi came close to equalising in the 53rd minute from a free-kick.
India finally had the breakthrough in the 68th minute when Robin was brought down inside the box, prompting the referee to point to the spot. A confident Givson Singh found the back of the net from the spot to equalise.
In the 78th minute however, Oman breached the Indian citadel once again and scored to hand them the lead again, which stayed till the end of the match.
India U-19 will once again face Oman U-19 on July 22 before taking on Jordan on July 24, and local club side Kocaelispor U-19 on July 27 as part of their preparation.
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