India under-16 hold UAE under-16 to draw in friendly

Stock Photography: Football. 13th April 1997. A close-up football illustration of a players feet whilst running with the ball, the ball is shown in motion by the panning shot at the FA. Cup. Semi Final at Highbury during the Wimbledon v Chelsea game of wh

Indian u-16 national team played out an impressive 1-1 draw against the UAE’s u-16 national team in their second and final friendly ahead of their AFC Under-16 Championship qualifiers campaign in Kuwait which starts on Saturday, September 21.

The UAE under-16 boys had recently won the Gulf under-17 Cup Championships while the Indian squad comprises of All India Football Federation’s Kolkata Regional Academy under-15 boys. The same squad had won the SAFF Under-16 Championship in Kathmandu in July.

Bedashwor Singh scored in the 38th minute of the match to put India in the lead before the UAE equalised.

Head coach Goutam Ghosh said, “This is a good result for the boys. I am happy with the way they played and stuck to the philosophy. Ahead of the AFC qualifiers, the two matches were very helpful.”

The boys had beaten Sharjah SC u-17s 4-0 in their previous match on Friday, September 13, 2013.

The colts now travel to Kuwait City to play in the AFC Under-16 Championship qualifiers starting from September 21. The India Under-16 play Tajikistan U-16 in the first match on the opening day.