Vietnamese toy with Indian juniors

By Our Sports Reporter

KOLKATA, SEPT. 26. The Indian juniors failed to show the proficiency their counterparts from Vietnam did in their 107th IFA Shield football tournament match at the Salt Lake Stadium on Wednesday.

The Indian under-19 team, playing its first Group C pre- quarterfinal league match against the Vietnam team, Nam Dinh FC, fell flat on its face conceding a 1-3 defeat.

The win brightened the quarterfinal chances of the visitor, while the home team now has to brace up for a big win in its concluding match against Muktijoddha Sangshad of Bangladesh, which had beaten the Vietnam team 3-1 in the opening group match.

In a Group A match Manaksia Tollygunge Agragami powered past city rival Mohammedan Sporting 4-0 to almost confirm a berth in the quarterfinals. Having received a sound thrashing at the hands of Kingfisher East Bengal, Agragami made a good recovery against Sporting, to pull back all the goals it had conceded in its last match.

The Indian performance could hardly transcend mediocrity as Nam Dinh toyed with its opposition in an overall show of superiority in a match played under lights. The Indians, coached by Uzbek Islam Akhmedov, handicapped by the absence of a number of regulars - mainly from the Tata Football Academy, who have been requisitioned by their respective clubs - appeared to be low in spirit.

The team also seemed to be poor both in form and fitness as the opposition made repeated forays into the home territory without facing much resistance. While the Indian defence left broad thoroughfares exposed, which the opposition successfully utilised thrice, the midfield complemented this with inactivity. And the forwards looked lost hardly getting the opportunity to step into the opponent box.

On the other hand, Nam Dinh, showed greater mobility in its attacks and earned its reward as early as in the 13th minute when Indian defender Harjit Singh handled the ball inside the box while trying to block Vietnam winger Nguyen Trung Kien's cross. Striker Nguyen Luong Phuc converted the spot kick. India earned a brilliant chance to equalise in the 24th minute but S. James Singh made a mess of the opportunity misdirecting the lob over the out of position goalkeeper, Tran Quoc Trung.

Nam Dinh enhanced the lead in the 38th minute getting Phuc to score again off a through pass from Le Ngoc Lung.

Vu Duy Hoang completed the scoring for the Vietnam team in the 59th minute finishing a beautiful diagonal pass from Phan The Hieu that ripped open the Indian defence to release the former with an open chance. With a minute left for the final whistle and the opposition relaxing in its own half, Indian juniors pulled one back getting substitute Marlanki Sutane to head home a floater from another replacement Joyful Housel.

In the other match, Tollygunge Agragami retained its iron clasp almost all through the match giving its opponent Mohammedan Sporting little space to operate. Agragami's Nigerian attack force scored three of its four goals - Adiola Aderai (10th minute), and Moses Owira (30th and 89th minutes). The fourth was scored by hardworking midfielder Sasthi Duley in the 81st minute.

In Thursday's matches, Mohun Bagan meets FC Kochin in a Group B encounter, while Tata Football Academy takes on CSL Bhratri Sangha in a Group D match.

India Under-19's Lal Bhulaiya (airborne) fails to make contact, while Nam Dinh defender Phan The Hieu (centre) heads the ball away to safety in the IFA Shield football tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.

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