FIFA U-17 World Cup: India's historic day in football ends in 3-0 defeat to USA

New Delhi: The Indian team promised a fight and it put up a fight, but the team from US proved much superior in the end and did not miss the chances it got. The result: On its historic day in football, India lost their Group A fixture in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup 3-0. (IND vs USA – As it happened...)

The crowd was right behind them. The Mexican wave was in its full splendour. The 60,000-capacity Jawaharlal Nehru (JLN) Stadium was more than half full but the boisterous crowd made it sound like packed to the rafters.

India held firm until the 28th min when a foul in the box by Indian defender Jitendra Singh brought down US No. 11 Andrew Carleton and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

Visiting captain Josh Sargent stepped up and beat Indian custodian Dheeraj Moirangtham to his right to put his team 1-0 ahead.

It remained the scoreline at half-time, but two more US strikes in the second half by Chris Durkin (50th) and Carleton (83rd) made an unlikely comeback impossible.

India started on a defensive note, but coach Luis Norton de Matos said it was because the US began with four forwards. In that light, it was creditable that the Indian defence stood firm for close to 30 minutes and the first goal came only via a penalty.

Before that, Dheeraj's save in the 5th min and superb defensive play in the 19th warded off two goal-scoring chances the Americans created.

India's first decent attack came in the 27th min, which earned them a corner but Sanjiv Stalin's kick-in was easily cleared to safety by the US defence.

India built up good steam towards the dying minutes of the first half, but the Americans didn't let their lead slip away.

Five minutes into the second half, Durkin was lucky that a defensive clearance in the 50th min fell to his foot and he didn't miss accepting the gift.

India came within inches of scoring in the 53rd minute when Komal Thatal tried to chip the ball over US 'keeper Justin Garces. But he put a bit more than required on the ball that went sailing over the crossbars.

However, it was Anwar Ali who gave the biggest scare to the US goal when his effort in the 83rd minute hit the crossbar.

The ricochet resulted in a counter attack and ended in Carleton foxing Dheeraj to put the writing on the wall.

India next take on Colombia at the same venue here on October 9.