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#1 Narender Gahlot's impressive outing
Just half an hour into the game, Narender Gahlot almost conceded a goal for his team. He failed to mark onrushing Firas Alkhatib and the Syrian captain almost gave his side the lead. The ball just went past the second post of an outstretched Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Narender looked up at the sky and probably cursed himself for the mistakes he had committed. At the same time, he perhaps vowed to not repeat the mistake. It turned out to be the day for the 18-year-old as he became the first player born in the 21st century to score for India.
Had Jerry not made the mistake late into the game, India would’ve come out with all the three points. Being put alongside Rahul Bheke at the heart of the defence, Narender always looked confident as he denied the Syrian attackers time and again. He covered most of the field amongst all defenders in the match.
The moment of joy came in the 51st minute, when a pin-point corner from Anirudh Thapa landed in the middle of the box and Narender, taller than most of the boys of his age, out jumped everyone to put the ball into the corner of the net.
He continued to impress throughout the match and might have saved the face of Indians in the final match of their Intercontinental Cup campaign.
