India U17 team gave up nine goals and scored once in 3 group stage matches. The 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup is being hosted by India, but things have not gone as planned.
The Indian side has already lost three World Cup games, against North America, Colombia, and Ghana by 0-3, 1-2, and 0-4. They faced a humiliating defeat in their latest match against Ghana by a score of 4-0. They haven't played in a FIFA World Cup before this tournament and this match will go as the first biggest defeat in a FIFA World Cup tournament.
Decent play by both sides in first-half
Both sides started the game with possessive play. India again focused more on defending than in attack. Ghana dominated most of the first half and played an offensive game as much as possible. Though, they couldn’t break through the Indian defense.
India kept the Ghanaian attackers at bay for the first forty minutes. Then at forty-two minutes, the Ghanaian wing player came with a counterattack and crossed the ball to the near post. One of the Ghanaian strikers collected the ball but somehow the Indian goalkeeper parried it away, the Ghanaian midfielder, Eric Ayiah quickly collected and flicked the loose ball to the back of the net. The goal gave Ghana a one-goal lead before the first-half.
Ghana sealed the deal in the second-half
It’s a stiff competition in Group-A between the US, Colombia, and Ghana to qualify for the round-of-16. Ghana came into the second-half determined to find more goals to increase their ‘goals-scored’ tally.
Just after seven minutes of play, Ghana scored again with the help of the same player, Eric Ayiah, who scored the first goal.
Ghana dominated the rest of the game. Before ending the game with a win, Ghana again scored two goals in 86th and 88th minutes.
The game ended with a massive win for Ghanaian players and the biggest defeat for Indians in the 2017 U17 World Cup. As this is the first time ever that a FIFA world cup is being played India at any age-level, so the Indian U17 should embrace this defeat as a learning curve.
After the third round matches in Group A, Ghana, Columbia, and the US have six points each, whereas, hosting nation, India has zero points. The competition is stiff for the final round as each team in Group A, except India, has six points. The goal-difference is currently an important factor for the teams in Group A. It now looks almost impossible for India to qualify for the round-of-16 but still, there’s more to come in the 2017 U17 World Cup and every team have chances to improve.
