India played a goalless draw against Kyrgyzstan in their under-16 championship qualifier (Group D) at Al Qatara stadium, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates on Thursday. With this draw India have four points in their pocket and still have a chance to qualify with two games remaining in hand.
India like their previous matches started the game on an attacking note but were unlucky not have found the back of the net. India outplayed Kyrgyzstan in terms of ball possession and shots on target. Kyrgyzstan was never in control of the game and had only two shots at the Indian den which were also off target.
The midfielders and the strikers played in tandem and intruded into Kyrgyzstan den at regular intervals but all their shots went straight to the Kyrgyzstan custodian Marsel Islamkulov.
India had close to four chances in the first. India could have taken the lead but Shankar Sanpingraj misjudged the ball inside the box as Kyrgyzstan defender cleared it. Brendon too had his chances but his shot went straight to Marsel.
With first half ending without a goal being scored the second half was no different as India dominated the proceedings but failed to capitalize on the chances that came their way. Coach Colm Toal was quite happy with the team’s performance and said, “The boys played really well and I am quite happy with the way they have improved. After our defeat in the first game the boys have come up really well and I am sure they will perform in the coming two matches. Though I am disappointed that we failed to pocket three points but then the opposition also played well.”
India will next play Oman on Saturday.
Source: AIFF
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Friday 9 October 2009, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.