New Delhi: After a whirlwind start to their crusade in the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament yesterday, the Estegal school boys from Kabul showed maturity and calmness as they scored a 3-0 triumph over St Xavier’s HSS from Chhattisgarh in their Pool D league game at the Ambedkar Stadium here today.
Understandably, what mattered to the visitors from abroad was swelling their points tally and leading the pool which the Afghan team is doing with perfection. On the other hand, Chhattisgarh who beat Air Force BalBharti School (New Delhi) yesterday failed to stop the rampaging Afghans in today’s game. This could affect Chhattisgarh their chance in the days to come when the knockout stage approaches.
Coming to the match, the Afghan boys did not waste time and struck in the very third minute of the match when Ali dodged past two defenders to fire in. Eighteen minutes later, Mohammad Amin made most of a penalty after referee Sujith K.V. showed the spot when Amin was pulled down inside the box.
Stung as they were, the Chhattisgarh boys forgot to safeguard their citadel when following a counterattack Ebadullah completed the task with their team’s third goal two minutes later. It was all over, bar the shouting for Chhattisgarh as their boys only concentrated on guarding their goal than making a fruitful attempt from the rival box.
In afternoon matches, Bangladesh KridaSikshaProtisthan defeated Namchi Sports Hostel (Sikkim) 4-0 while Holy Spirit Institute, Margao (Goa) thumped the Air Force School (Subroto Park), New Delhi, 9-0 in pool B games. Both matches, as the scores suggest, were absolutely one-sided with no respite for their opponents.
For the Bangladesh school, MohadRahib (3) and Mohammad Habibur scored and for the Goan outfit, scores came from the boots of Richard Carvalho, Harsh Patre (3), AdityaSalgaonkar (2), Mevan Dias and Notham Rodrigues (2).
In a morning match at NWC, KendriyaVidyala, Gorakhpur, defeated Emerald Heights International School from Madhya Pradesh 4-1 in pool C, which included a self-goal in favour of the winners.
Sameer opened KV’s account in the 13th minute and with MP goal under constant threat, defender DivyajeetSarwan was in a hurry to send the ball back to his goalkeeper. But Emerald’s goalkeeper misjudged the flight of the ball and to his utter shock the ball went in to give KV a 2-0 lead just as the teams went into breather.
Soon after resumption, PriyanshuRai scored in the 34th minute and within seven minutes they added to their tally. The lone consolation goal for Madhya Pradesh team came when Dilip Singh struck in the 41st minute.
In a Pool A match, Betkuchi HS, Assam blanked out Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai, 8-0, with Uday Shankar Bora striking three times in both halves after providing a rousing start with two goals within three minutes of each other in the first session. Healthy contributions came from his teammates with Shakti Moran scoring a brace.
In another Pool A match at the same venue, Reliance FYC from Mumbai beat Lakshadweep’s Government Senior HSS 7-1, with M. Ranzak Singh striking three goals while contributions coming from Thoz Singh (2), M..A. Laskar and Gulab while Mohammad Sayeed pulling one back for Lakshadweep.