The India men’s under-19 football team finally registered their first win in the AFC under-19 Championship qualifiers with a 3-0 win over Turkmenistan in their group D encounter at the Prince Mohammad bin Fahad Stadium in Dammam, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. India lost their first match to Saudi Arabia 5-0 followed by a goalless draw against Yemen.
Skipper Amarjit Singh’s 74th minute strike, followed by Abhishek Halder’s 80th minute tap-in and Edmund’s 92nd minute goal proved to be the difference between the two sides in a match largely dominated by India. It was all India in the first half as they dominated possession. Nongdamba Naorem had an early chance to put India 1-0 up, but ended up losing possession. In the 26th minute, Amarjit set up Naorem, but his shot from outside the box went inches wide of the goal. Turkmenistan rarely threatened the Indian defense as the first half ended without a goal.
In the second half, India took a 1-0 lead after Amarjit’s spectacular strike. In the 80th minute, Abhishek doubled India’s lead after he tapped the ball into the net following an accurate cross from the right flank. India then scored on the counter-attacks with Edmund’s netting the third and final goal of the match. With the win, India took their points tally to four in three matches.