India win a point and plenty of hearts

Vasco: India came out of the shadow of an impressive Malaysian side to stun the visitors with a grand rally after trailing 0-2 by the 78th minute for a 2-2 draw in their opening encounter of the AIFF Youth Cup (U-16) at the Tilak Maidan on Sunday.
Earlier, in the Cup’s lung-opener, Tanzania too came back from a goal down to hold fancied United States of America 1-1.
India were solid in defence but somehow left a lot of vacuum in midfield that allowed Malaysia to exploit the openings which they did with aplomb. Their passing and running into open spaces was impressive but India often made up for what they lacked in build-up by winning the ball more often than not and that ensured they were always in with a chance of finding the net. That they had a greater success of shots on target in the first half even though they conceded a soft goal two minutes from the lemon break, goes to show that they were more incisive.
It was the Indian defence that stood tall, often making timely tackles with Boris Singh Thangjam, Mohammed Sarif Khan and Jitendra Singh displaying the calmness and confidence in their first big home test. It was only an error of judgment when Sarif Khan in an attempt to stop Muhammad Nizaruddin Bin Jazi’s cross from the right, only managed to nudge it to Muhammad Alif Safwan Bin Sallahuddin who found the net with a clinical finish in the 43rd minute.
Before conceding a goal, India conjured up at least five opportunities, once forcing goalkeeper Muhammad Rafiq Bin Kamaruddin to come up with a diving save off striker Aniket Jadhav’s tap-in from Sanjeev Stalin’s goalmouth cross.
It was Komal Thatal on the left and Khumanthem Ninthoinganba Meetei on the right that were the livewires in the middle that often troubled the Malaysian defence. Meetei was most impressive but had he forged a better understanding with striker Jadhav, India could have probably been the first to draw blood.
A pep talk by Nicolai saw the Indian colts return with renewed vigour as they ran the Malaysians rugged, especially in the last 20 minutes when substitutes Mohamad Rakip, Nongthombam Joysana Singh and Aman Chetri made their entry.
Until then, the Indian team often came close but somehow their finish lacked power and conviction.
A poor tackle in the box by a defender saw Malaysia being awarded a penalty which was comfortably converted by skipper Arif in the 78th minute.
However, that did not deter the Indian Colts from clawing their way back and they did that in style when they tore down the Malaysian defence time and again, using pace and skill as they combined to a nicety to demolish their opponents. Strikes by Kamal after a brief but intrinsic solo in the 81st and skipper Amarjit’s finish off a rebound after substitute Nongthombam’s essay was blocked by the keeper, saw India negate the visitors’ 2-0 lead to receive a thunderous applause from the goodly crowd that turned out to egg them on.
“Winning a point was okay, but the more important thing is that the boys won the hearts of the supporters and that matters more,” said India coach Nicolai Adam.
In an earlier match, USA took the lead in the third minute when Grant Ogundimu capitalized from a melee inside the Tanzania box to score before Mohamed Rashid’s scorcher from outside the box gave Tanzania the equalizer.
India take on Tanzania next on May 17 and clash with United States on May 19.