Indian juniors thrash Lebanon

After the senior national football team went down in the World Cup qualifiers to Lebanon rather tamely comes the heart warming news of the Indian boys overpowering their Lebanese counterparts 3-0 in the AFC under-16 championship qualifying match in Group C held at the Prince Saud Bin Jelawi stadium, Rakah in Saudi Arabia. Though placed in a tough group in the tournament, the Indians managed to keep their cool. In their first game they romped past Sri Lanka 6-0 and then held Iraq 2-2. But the acid test was against Lebanon and the boys reigned supreme with a convincing 3-0 victory.

Deepak Devrani struck twice in the 9th and 64th minutes, whereas Mandeep scored in the 47th minute of the match to ensure a thumping win. Talking about the junior side’s golden run, manager Ankur Dutta says: “The fact that the boys have been together for last four months, has made the difference.”The entire team had gone on an exposure trip to Germany in September and Dutta admits that playing with the European teams have made his boys tougher. And as far as their chances in the game against the hosts Saudi Arabia, he said: “I’m very confident that the boys will put up a good show.”

The Path so far

• October 27: Beat Sri Lanka 6-0: Bijendra Rai, Malaswamfela (2), Mandeep, Ralte Lalrindila (2); w October 30: Drew 2-2 versus Iraq: Bikramjit Singh, Ronmoy Ghosh; w November 1: Beat Lebanon 3-0: Deepak Devrani (2), Mandeep

The challenge ahead

• November 4: vs Saudi Arabia; w November 7: vs Bhutan