AFC U-22 Qualifiers: India trash Turkmenistan 4-1

The India Under-22s won 4-1 against Turkmenistan in their fourth match at the AFC Under-22 Asian Championship qualifiers at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, Oman to keep their chances to qualify for the finals alive with their final match against the hosts Oman on July 3.

Coach Arthur Papas made five changes to his starting eleven keeping with his style of using as many players as possible from his squad and it worked once more for him and his team in an emphatic victory.

India started on a cautious note. They stayed content in building from the back and switched flanks on a regular basis. There were passes being stitched, positions being interchanged. India had the regulator with them – they controlled the match and the goal stayed inevitable but they to wait a while. Sometimes one became impatient as opening the rival goalmouth at times, looked like improbable -- simply because Turkmenistan were not willing to push forward. By the 15th minute itself, they had 10 men defending.

The deadlock eventually broke in the 36th minute. Romeo Fernandes, India's super-sub against the United Arab Emirates made justice of Arthur Papas fielding him in the Starting XI. As he broke through inside the penalty box, rival defender Komekov Hemayat, beaten by Romeo’s sudden burst, found it best to bring him down. Midfielder Lalrindika Ralte slotted the penalty past Turkmen goalkeeper Garayev to put India in the lead.

Barely four minutes after Dika's penalty conversion, Alwyn George, still then, a bit suffocated in between a horde of Turkmenistan players, got past two but his prompt left-footer hit the post.

Changing over, Turkmenistan started-off with more purpose. The first five minutes had the Indians suddenly defending. The organisation stayed good but despite it, captain Gurpreet Singh Sandhu had to stretch back to palm over a deflection. On the counter, a Romeo placement off a Vishak Kumar throw-in hit the upright in the 51st minute and then in the 55th minute, Manandeep Singh's long-ranger sailed over. And then Turkmenistan struck in the 59th minute – Farhad Italmazov's prompt right-footer beating a diving Gurpreet.

But the young Indians regrouped quickly – Alwyn George capitalising on a defensive lapse, chipped it over an onrushing Garayev in the 68th minute. Alwyn could have settled the issue in the 71st minute when he ran in between the entire defence and entered the rival box only for Garayev's legs to deprive him. But luckily it didn't matter as Romeo got his name on the scoring sheet for the second consecutive match in the 76th minute. This time, Alwyn provided the perfect supplier for him and Romeo made no mistake.

The second penalty for India on the day came in the 85th minute when substitute striker Jeje Lalpekhlua was pushed inside the box and Jeje gleefully converted from the spot.

For the rest of the match, the Indians maintained their shape. Turkmenistan did try to press hard but it came a bit too late and it ended 4-1 for India, who now have seven points from four matches and are in with a chance to qualify for the finals.


INDIA Under-22s

1-Gurpreet Singh Sandhu [Captain]; 26-Vishal Kumar, 4-Deepak Devrani, 14-Souvik Ghosh, 5-Narayan Das; 7-Ganeshan (63' 32-Tirthankar Sarkar), 17-Ongnam Milan Singh, 8-Lalrindika Ralte, 31-Romeo Fernandes (82' 3-Abhishek Das), 12-Alwyn George, 35-Manandeep Singh (69' 10-Jeje Lalpekhlua)