India beat Maldives, book berth against B’desh in SAFF U20 final

Bhubaneswar, August 3: A ten-man India U20 booked their slot in the final of the SAFF U20 Championship when they defeated the Maldives in their last league match played at the Kalinga Stadium on Tuesday.

 

 

India, who finished on 9 points will take on Bangladesh U20 in the final which is slated for August 5. It was Substitute Gurkirat Singh who made the difference between the two teams, banging it into the net in the 89th minute. Parthib Gogoi's grounder found a deflection, and Gurkirat's rasper bulged the net from inside the box.

 

 

For all their domination and penetration which saw chances fall their way in both halves, the Indian colts who had scored eight times in their last encounter against Nepal, stayed guilty of not being to capitalise on the chances they created. They even hit the crosspiece in the 67th minute.

 

The Indian colts, however, suffered a jolt when striker Gogoi, the highest goal scorer in the tournament so far was given marching orders in the 90th minute.

 

Earlier, Maldives’ sole effort at the Indian goal had come in the very first minute but Indian goalkeeper Som Kumar dived to his right -- fully stretched to keep off a Zain Zafar free-kick.