India U-19 drub Al-Gharafa U-19 in preparatory friendly

The Indian Colts are in Qatar preparing for the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers.

India's U-19 team hammered Qatar Stars League side Al-Gharafa FC's U-19 team 1-3 in a friendly held in Doha earlier this evening.

The Indian side dominated the play from the kickoff, as they outdid the Qatari side with perfect, accurate passes, and with a fierce barrage functioning upfront.

Seems like they've learnt from the FIFA U-17 defeats, the Indian side commanded the game showing indomitable spirit, outclassing Al-Gharafa players with dazzling touches and co-ordinations.

The first half of the game

Indian side governed to keep the possession throughout the 90-minute party, creating constant perils to the Qatari defence, which they somehow managed to thwart.

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The firmness of Indian defense was not evaluated much as the Al-Gharafa U-19 attackers failed launch fatal moves against them. However, Indian defenders didn't allow the opponents build a successful attack, proving that they have a flexible, still rigid defence.

Rahim Ali scored a brace for India, while the winner was from Princeton Rebello. The referee granted the Qatari side a goal as part of the blatant referring mistake that saw Rahim Ali scoring for India.

The second half of the game

In terse, it was a brilliant, radiant performance by the young Colts' which saw them thrashing the Qatari side. The stem-to-stern performance of Indian side had completely made the home side enervated. If India could perform a similar show against Saudi Arabia, chances for qualifying to the AFC Championship will remain high.

India Starting X1:

Dheeraj Singh, Sahil Panwar, Anwar Ali, Suresh Singh, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Rahim Ali, Naorem, Asish Rai, Roshan Singh Naorem, Princeton Arnald Rebello, Abhishek Halder

Substitutes:

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Rahul KP, Jitendra Singh