December 14, 2024 14:13 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Pushpa 2 stampede: Allu Arjun walks out of jail, actor's lawyer slams delay in release | Donald Trump intends to end 'inconvenient' and 'very costly' Daylight Saving Time | Suchir Balaji: Indian-origin former OpenAI researcher found dead at US apartment | Bengaluru techie suicide: Karnataka Police issues summons to wife Nikita, her family members | French President Macron appoints centrist leader Francois Bayrou as new Prime Minister | Congress always prioritised personal interest over Constitution: Rajnath Singh | Jaishankar calls attack on Hindus in Bangladesh 'a source of concern' | Allu Arjun arrested over woman's death in stampede during Pushpa 2 premiere show | RBI receives bomb threat in Russian language, case filed | UP teenager kills mother, lives with body for 5 days

U-23 friendly series with Singapore ends 1-1

| | Jul 13, 2017, at 02:04 am
New Delhi, July 12 (IBNS): The two-match International Friendly series between India U-23 and Singapore U-23 ended 1-1 when India U-23 boys went down narrowly to Singapore U-23 by a solitary goal in the second International Friendly played at the Choa Chu Kan Stadium in Singapore on Wednesday (July 12, 2017).

India had beaten Singapore 1-0 in the first match on July 9, a German Germanpreet Singh left-footed curler making the difference between the two sides.

The Indian contingent next travel to Doha on July 15 where they have been clubbed with hosts Qatar, Turkmenistan and Syria in Group C of the AFC U-23 Qualifiers which kick-off on July 19.

I am disappointed with the result. I thought the boys fought very hard but we lacked a bit of quality in the final third and it cost us in the end,” Constantine said from Singapore. “However, I can say that we didn’t deserve to lose the game,” he added.

“The objective is to find players for the Senior Team and there are certainly some players who if they continue the manner they are doing now have a serious chance to push for the Senior National Team,” he stated.

Meanwhile, defender Salam Ranjan Singh who faced a nasty challenge in his face was rushed to the hospital for a cut under his lip wherein he had three stitches.

Both the teams opted for a slow but cautious start as they tried to consolidate the attacks from the midfield. The hosts almost found the back of the net within first five minutes but Vishal Kaith gloved the long ball with much ease.

In next two minutes, the Himachal Pradesh-born goalkeeper showed his character once again when he threw himself to save a point-blank range effort which was followed by a deadly goal line save by Lalruatthara.

After the clock ticked off the 10-minute mark, Germanpreet Singh, who scored the winner two days back, swivelled a long-ranger from the middle of the pitch but Nikhil Poojari couldn’t reach it on time.

Manvir Singh, Nikhil Poojari and skipper Daniel Lalhlimpuia started to press the hosts hard but the opening goal stayed elusive for Stephen Constantine's boys in the first 45 minutes.

Indians had quite a few half-chances in the first half but the sole attack on the target was from Mumbai-based Nikhil Poojari whose feeble header was saved by the opposing goalkeeper in the 38th minute.

After the changeover, Indians came very close to scoring the opener but Nikhil's left-footer missed the target by a whisker.

However, Ikhsan Fandi put the hosts in the driving seat from the penalty spot after Salam Ranjan Singh brought him down inside the box.

With the clock ticking, Manvir took on his own to outrun the Singaporean defender before hitting the side-netting in the 76th minute.

Seven minutes to the end of the regulation time, Alen Deory could've found the elusive equaliser for us but he mistimed his jump and failed to make a contact with the ball.

Manvir continued to impose threats towards the final minutes of the match but his inch-perfect pass in the 87th minute got wasted as Nikhil Poojari caught offside.

INDIA: Vishal Kaith, Salam Ranjan Singh (Sairuatkima 75'), Nishu Kumar (Davinder Singh 46'), Lalruatthara, Jerry Lalrinzuala, Nikhil Poojari, Anirudh Thapa, Germanpreet Singh, Lallianzuala Chhangte (Hitesh Sharma 46'), Daniel Lalhlimpuia (C) (Alen Deory 75'), Manvir Singh

Image: AIFF Media

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.