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India lost 3-0 to a resilient Iran side in the second match of their AFC U-16 Qualifiers as Sharifi, Khodamoradi and Ghaderi scored to hand the team their first loss in the qualifiers. India had previously beaten Bahrain 5-0 in the first match; they have already qualified for the finals of the tournament as the host team.
India started with the same team that beat Bahrain 5-0 in the opening match and got off on the front foot. They attacked their illustrious opponents from all ends as Komal tried to dribble his way into the Iranian 18-yard-box.
Jitendra played a long ball towards Aniket who was in acres of space, but the linesman had his flag up for offside. Both teams were trying their best to gain an advantage in the match, but the defense looked well organized and it looked like it would take a moment of magic to open the match up.
That moment was provided by Sharifi, who made no mistake from a free kick to hand the Iranians the lead. India were hard done by the goal as it seemed to be against the run of play. They looked to level things up as soon as possible but the Iranian defense was happy to trade the Indian pressure for a corner.
India tried their best to grab the equalizer, but the Iranian defense looked to be well drilled for any challenge that their opponents could throw at them. Komal tried his luck from a distance, but the shot could not find its way past the Iranian backline.
Two minutes before the break Iran doubled their lead through Khodamoradi, whose shot from a distance was too hot for Dheeraj to handle. The Indian colts headed into the break with a two-goal deficit to their name.
As the youngsters returned for the second half, head coach Nicolai Adam brought on Sanjeev to replace Aniket to scale the huge mountain India had to climb. The substitution seemed to inspire the team as Aman forced the Iranian keeper into a world-class save.
In the 57st minute, Ghaderi scored off a diving header to triple Iran’s lead. India replied with a sweeping move that was once again saved by the Iranian shot stopper.
Adam replaced Ninthoi by Rahul to get something out of the match and the substitutions seemed to pay off immediately as Sharif missed an easy tap-in from a corner.
India put up a challenge in the last 30 minutes
Rahul then tried his luck from a distance as the ball went inches wide of the post. By this time, Iran were doing all the defending, and the defense that had looked rock solid for most parts of the match was beginning to show some nerves.
Komal was hacked down at the edge of the 18-yard-box by the Iranian defense as India were awarded a free-kick. But the Iranian keeper pulled off another good save to keep the clean sheet intact.
Adam brought on Joseph to replace Suresh for the final ten minutes of the match, but the resilient Iran defense were able to hold off the challenge of the Indian colts.
Although it was an identical scoreline to the one when the senior team played in the World Cup Qualifiers, the performance was completely different as India were unable to take their chances in the second half.
India next take on Lebanon in the final group match on the 20th of September.
