Indian under-23 football team coached by Sukhvinder Singh went down to Kuwait in their opening match of Group D in the 16th Asian Games at Guangzhou, China.
The Kuwait piled pressure upon India very early in the game after Al Rashidi found the back of the net in the 6th minute of the game. Kuwait tried to increase their lead throughout the first half, but the score remained 1-0 at the half time.
Kuwait's lead was doubled in the 58th minute; this time it was Khaled with the goal. Sukhvinder Singh tried to turn things around with his substitutes, but Indian boys were unable to find a single goal.
India will now take on the defending champions, Qatar, in their second group match on November 9.
Final Score: Kuwait 2-0 India
Goals: Al Rashidi (6'), Khaled (58')
Indian Team for Asian Games 2010:
Goalkeepers: Karanjit Singh, Laxmikant Kattimani, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu
Defence: Denzil Franco, Abhishek Das, Robert Lalthalma, Rowilson Rodrigues, Raju Gaikwad, Inderpreet Singh, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Lalrozama Fanai
Midfield: Lalrindika Ralte, Joaquim Abranches, Jewel Raja Shaikh, Jibon Singh, Manish Mathani, Shilton D’Silva, Tirthankar Sarkar, Subodh Kumar
Forwards: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, Jagtar Singh, Malsawmfela
From the archive. First published on footballkerala.com on Sunday 7 November 2010, restored from the site's 2012 database. Text as originally published.