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Nepal holds India

By Our Sports Reporter

India's Lalawmpuia Pachuau scoring past Nepal's goalkeeper Sanjeev Shreshta during the group VI Asian Football Confederation under-17 qualifying tournament in Kolkata on Monday.

KOLKATA DEC. 1. India put up a mediocre performance that yielded a 1-1 deadlock as Nepal took crucial points from the host in the opening group VI league match of the Asian Football Confederations' under-17 qualifying match at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Monday.

A position on top of the group, that will enable one of the three teams find a place in the final round to be held in Japan late next year, was made to appear a difficult task for the host as an opportunistic equaliser and a dogged defending by Nepal neutralised the possibility of a lead in the start of the league.

That India played and dominated most of the proceedings in the match found little meaning in the end analysis as numerous wasted opportunities and a couple of deflections off the cross-piece highlighted the plight of the sub-junior national team.

Realising the absence of intensity in the forwardline, the Indian coach, Jahar Das, made the first substitution in the 42nd minute pulling out Romeo Sukhlain to introduce Lalawmpuia Pachuau in the attack. The substitution worked well as the host found the goal in the very next minute as Lalawmpuia himself slotted the ball in. The Mizoram striker showed a greater sense of opportunism compared to his predecessor as he positioned himself right clear of the opponent defenders to avail a B. Ralte provision, which he finished with an angular shot beating the Nepal custodian, Sanjeev Shrestha, all ends up.

Instead of building up on the first half lead, the home team found itself back into crisis as Nepal brought up the equaliser just two minutes into the second session. The equaliser resulted after Durga Lawat's freekick rebounded off the framework and before the Indian defence could react, the Nepal forward Shishir Adhikary availed the rebound to level the scores.

The Indian efforts of regaining the lead met with frustration as Nepal regrouped its defence pooling in extra men to deny any further scope to the host. Meanwhile, the confusion regarding the participation of Afghanistan — the third team in the group — seemed to be over as the All India Football Federation reported the arrival of the team in New Delhi. The team will be reaching here on Tuesday — which is a rest day in the fixtures — and play its match against Nepal on Wednesday.

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