There were goals galore for India as it registered a superb 4-0 victory over host Jordan in its 5th WAFF U-16 Championship opener at the King Abdullah II Stadium on Wednesday.
The match started at a slow pace as both the teams hooked on to a 'safety-first' approach. Givson, who generally operates as the distributor in the middle, floated a looping ball from the left wing for Vikram in the 13th minute but the Jordanian goalkeeper came out of his position to clear it away.
Finally, Captain Vikram Singh broke the deadlock two minutes to the half-time whistle from inside the 6-yard box. India earned a free-kick following a harsh challenge on Bekey Oram. As Givson ran a dummy, Vikram opted to take a short free-kick to Ridge who passed it onto Rohit Danu. The forward outfoxed the Jordanian defense to unleash a low delivery for Vikram who did no mistake to rattle the back of the net.
Post half-time, the game sprang into life when Niraj made two valiant efforts to put the host away from scoring the equaliser in the 54th minute. While an appeal was made for a penalty following Niraj's second save in the process, the referee paid no heed at all.
Just after the clock crossed the hour-mark, Vikram doubled the lead from another brilliantly-crafted work by Bekey. The stocky midfielder outpaced the defender down the left flank and put it forward for Danu who eventually, was left unmarked by the defenders. The resultant pass from Danu was calmly tapped home by Vikram.
Having seated firmly at the top, India opted to press more to secure a handsome victory in its tournament opener. In the 73rd minute, Rohit pressed the Jordan goalkeeper hard who ended up passing the ball to Givson at the edge of the box. He delivered a looping ball to Vikram who was left unmarked once again. The skipper found the back of the net one more time to complete his hat-trick.
Gaffer introduced a couple of fresh pair of legs in form of Ravi Bahadur Rana and Sailo in the 75th minute at the expenses of the show-stoppers Vikram and Givson. The duo played a crucial role in building up the fourth goal of the night which was converted exquisitely by Bekey Oram in the 84th minute.
India held the lead until the final whistle to leave the ground with all three points in the opening fixture. It faces Japan next on August 3.
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