Not the greatest of starts for the young team, a 5-0 decimation at the hands of the hosts. However, they will look to take the positives and come back stronger against Slovenia.
The Croatians have managed to build a huge four-goal lead going into the break that could prove costly for the visitors. The Indians will have to regroup and pull up their socks if they looking to make any sort of a comeback into this contest.
37' GOOAL for Croatia and the third one of the day for the hosts.
The first half continues to be a nightmare for the Indians as the Croatians now have three goals to their credit and seem to be running away with the game.
The Four Nations Tournament, an Under-19 tournament featuring India, France, Slovenia and hosts Croatia is set to kick-off today at the Novi Zagreb state in Croatia with India set to face off against Croatia in the opening game.
The tournament, which will serve as an acid test for the Indian squad ahead of the upcoming Hero I-League season and the U-19 AFC Championship qualifiers next year will see the talented lot of youngsters opening their campaign against Croatia today followed by a clash against Slovenia on the 6th and cap off their group stage fixtures with a game against France two days later.
India will be coming into this contest with a huge 2-1 win against Argentina in the COTIF Cup which will infuse some much-needed confidence into the Indian setup.