Indian boys bow to Saudi Arabia
India scored an own goal and conceded two late goals to go down 1-3 to Saudi Arabia in their Group C match of AFC Under-19 Championships qualifiers at Arbil, Iraq.
Surprisingly India, who played with 10 men from the 66th minute when Vishal Kumar earned his second yellow card of the match, took the lead in the 28th minute and led 1-0 at half time. But Deepak Devrani did the Saudis a favour by scoring an own goal in the 55th minute.
With Saturday’s loss, India -- who had lost to Iraq 0-5 in their opening match -- are virtually out of the reckoning for a berth in next year’s AFC Championships. Only the group winners and runners-up will get automatic qualification.
With a large contingent of local Kurdish fans behind them, Shilton D’Silva put India ahead in the 28th minute.
Saudi Arabia equalised in the 55th minute when a clearance from Devrani was misjudged by the Indian custodian and the ball found the back of the net, resulting in an own goal. India conceded a goal in the 90th minute to Abdulla Ali and Saudi substitute Muhannad Hamed scored in the fourth minute of injury time.
