Our site uses cookies to deliver a better experience. Please click accept to agree with the use of all cookies. You can change the cookie settings here.
Radvoje scored for Serbia from the spot before Kostic sealed the win on the counter. India, despite creating a lot of chances, fall to their European opponents.
India have been doing all the attacking in this half but Serbia punish them by scoring on the counter. That is pretty much the game decided right there.
Anwar Ali gets in on the attacking action as he plays a stunning pass down the middle for Aniket. The forwards goes past the defender only to see him put in a late challenge to clear the ball.
Yet another chance for India as the clock approaches the 70 minute mark. Boris tries to find his way inside the box but the Serbian defense stands firm.
It is that lack of fine tuning in the final third once again which sees another chance wasted. The play before that was good. Over an hour gone into the match. Thirty minutes plus stoppage time remain.
To be fair, the young blues are playing some good football. Once again, a great move see multiple Indian players combine as they proceed towards the Serbian goal. However, there is still a bit of fine tuning requires, especially in the final third.
It has all gone downhill for the boys in blue since their historic win against Argentina. However, a comeback here might see their season take a turn for the good.
Yet another great save by the Serbian shot-stopper! Amarjit goes through one-on-one with the keeper. He tries to place the ball but sees his shot saved. Great opportunity that for an equalizer.
Serbia see a spot kick being awarded to them after Jitendra handled the ball inside the penalty box. Radivoje is the one to take and sends the ball flying into the net. Heartbreaking for Gill in goal, who had guessed the right way but failed to make contact.
An unusual move by the India team as they try to work a short corner. However, the man on the ball, Aniket, eventually wastes the opportunity by playing the ball in too early. His teammates were certainly not expecting that.
Few chances in the match so far. Floyd Pinto will be encouraged by what he has seen after his young side were comprehensively beaten on their Croatia tour.
Serbia with a good chance as the clock strikes the Twentieth minute. They have a freekick on the edge of the box. However, the ball hits the wall and India clears!
The new man in gets involved in a good move. Asish lays a well weighted pass to Aniket on the right hand side. He, in turn, takes on the defender but loses the one-on-one battle.
The Indian colts play their first friendly match against Serbia U19s on September 13. They are slated to play the next International friendly against the hosts on September 17. Floyd Pinto's boys gear up to play the youth team of Serbia after playing The U-19 teams of France, Croatia, and Slovenia in the recently concluded Four-nation tournament in Croatia.
Although the young Indian side did not manage to win any of the three encounters the Four-nation tour, they showed great character in all the matches and put up a tremendous fight against the youth teams of the football powerhouses.
The Indian colts had surprised one and all when they defeated one of the best U20 teams -- Argentina -- 2-1 in the COTIF Cup. Anwar Ali was the star on the day as he scored a goal with a sublime free kick.
After a high in the COTIF Cup, Floyd Pinto's men lost all three matches in the Four-nation tournament.
The first match was against the hosts Croatia, who handed the Indian colts a 5-0 drubbing. The match was already over when India U19s conceded two early goals and the opposition was 4-0 up in the first half itself. In their next encounter, they lost by a solitary goal to Slovenia. This was a game dominated by the Indians and they were really unfortunate to concede a goal late in added time after coming agonizingly close to scoring on multiple occasions.
Indian custodian Prabhsukhan Gill played exceptionally well in the match against France, but the opposition were just too strong and constantly putting pressure on the Indian defense with a string of attacks. Indian striker Aniket Jadhav had his chances in the match but failed to convert any.
A positive takeaway was that India created plenty of chances in each match and were superb on the ball, even holding possession effectively for long durations and showing they are hungry for a win by not just sitting back in their own half. Restricting far superior opponents such as France for the majority of the match is proof of the immense caliber of the young Indian boys.
Floyd Pinto and his boys will hope to pick themselves up after the three back-to-back losses and get back to winning ways as they get set to face Serbia.
