WAFF U16 Championship: India finish campaign with 3-0 win over Yemen

by Chittu Shetty August 8, 2018

India U16’s impressive performances continues as they registered their third win of the WAFF U16 Championship giving them a sniffing chance at the title depending on Japan losing against Iraq in their final group fixture.

WAFF U16 Championship

The India U-16 National Team maintained their winning streak when they defeated a strong Yemen 3-0 in the five-nation WAFF U16 Championship in Amman, Jordan. The result meant India still has a sniffing chance of lifting the title that would depend on Japan losing their final game against Iraq.

After Central Defender Harpreet Singh headed the first one in the 37^th minute, two goals in two minutes immediately after resumption took the issue beyond Yemen’s reach. While the second goal was headed in by an ice-cool Ridge Demello in the 47^th minute, Rohit Danu lobbed it over the rival Goalkeeper a minute later, providing the perfect finish to a promising build-up.

Head Coach Bibiano Fernandes lauded the boys for their “fantastic display.” “We are extremely proud of them. They came up with a superlative performance today and executed it to perfection. The tournament has helped us gauge where we stand and we go back much richer in experience,” he stated post match.

The U-16 boys, thus finished their engagements in the tournament winning three matches and losing a close one to Japan. While the Indian colts had made short work of Jordan 4-0 in their opening encounter and accounted for current U-16 Asian Champions Iraq in the previous match by a solitary goal, they had lost lead and match to Asian powerhouses Japan 1-2 in their other match.

The tournament was part of their exposure tour organised by AIFF in conjunction with SAI as preparation for the forthcoming AFC U-16 Championship Malaysia 2018 which is to be competed among the top 16 teams in Asia.

The qualified teams in the AFC U-16 Championship have been divided into four groups of 4 teams each with the top two from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. India have been clubbed with Iran, Vietnam and Indonesia in Group C. The four semi-finalists get a direct ticket to the next edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2019.

Highlights of the Game: