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.

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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.