AFC U-16 Championship: India battles till the end to hold mighty Saudi Arabia on to a 3-3 draw!

U17 Team 3
India battles till the end to hold mighty Saudi Arabia on to a 3-3 draw! File Picture

India 3 (Aniket Jadhav 6th, Aman Chetri – 22nd, Suresh Singh – 90+)
Saudi Arabia 3 (Abdulazia Sulaiman – 34th, Feras Tariq – 82nd and 83rd)

Internet Desk : After the defeat against UAE in their last game, the Indian U16 boys showed great character to leave the ground on a high after a 3-3 draw against the mighty Saudi arabia as it started with two goals in the first 23 minutes and ended with three goals in the last eight minutes. Courtesy the result, India are on one point from two matches and next play Iran in their last match on September 21.

India was leading by 2-1 till the 81st minute as India’s young guns conceded a brace scored by Feras Tariq (82ndand 83rd) as fears of a repeat of the first-day result cropped up. But it wasn’t to be – Suresh slotting in the penalty after the nippy Komal Thattal was brought down.

Earlier for India, Aniket Jadhav had opened the scoring in the 6th minute with Aman Chetri doubling the lead in the 22nd minute.

Nicolai brought in two substitutions at the interval – Lalengmawia replacing Aman and Ninthoi coming in for Aniket.

In the final minutes, Saudi did seize the opportunity to score two in two minutes in the dramatic game but the best was reserved till the end.