Kolkata: The Indian U-17 side put up a splendid performance to draw 1-1 against a strong Chile side, in their final match of the Torneo de 4 Naciones tournament held in Mexico. Their attacking play drew a lot of praise from the Chile U-17 coach as well as from the U-17 World Cup tournament director Javier Ceppi.
The Indian team had already exited the tournament after tasting defeat in the first two games of the tournament. In the opening match, they faced the home side Mexico, against whom they were completely outplayed, losing the game 5-1. The loss was soon followed by another defeat and this time it was at the hands of Colombia, who defeated the Indian side 3-0, to progress further into the tournament.
However, they leave their heads held high after managing to salvage a draw against the runner-up of the 2017 South American Championship.
The performance of the colts in blue caught the eye of the Chilean coach, Hernan Caputto, who according to sources was quoted as saying, ” India has a very competitive team and it would be a big mistake if other teams in the U-17 World Cup take them lightly. We were quite surprised to see their defensive strength today.”
The match started well for the Indians, as they managed to test the Chile defence, on few occasions.
However, it was Chile who drew the first blood in the 40th minute, scoring from a corner as the Indian defence failed to clear a ball. The Indians came quite close to scoring a couple of times, with Aniket’s shot going just inches over the bar in the first half.
The second half saw India equalise through striker Nongdamba Naorem, whose powerful shot in the 55th minute went past the goalkeeper, to level the score. The Indians were reduced to 10 men just two minutes later, as Aniket Jadhav was sent off. But the blue tigers held on to the Chile attacks to keep the scores tied and earn a point.
Javier Ceppi, who had a talk with the Chile coach after the match, quoted him saying, ” India is a competitive team that will make the country proud.”
Ceppi was impressed with the spirit of the young Indian boys against one of the best youth teams in South America.
The U-17 Indian team are next scheduled to travel to Australia, but will only travel depending on the weather conditions there.
They are also expected to take part in the national camp under the tutelage of the Portuguese head coach Luis Norton De Matos, to prepare for the upcoming U-17, to be held this October in India.