India U-22 draw friendly against African XI

The Indian Under-22 squad presently camping in Dubai for the forthcoming AFC Under-22 Asian Championship qualifiers were held to a 2-2 draw in their first practice match against a combined African XI today. Midfielders Lalrindika Ralte and Tirthankar Sarkar scored the goals for the Indian squad.

Head Coach Arthur Papas used 18 players in the match which was played at Al Wasl's training ground. The rival opposition comprised of players from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, who have come to Dubai to appear in trials for various UAE clubs.

"It is a good result against a very tough opposition," Arthur Papas maintained. "The positive part stays the boys are improving," he added.

"We wanted to play at 5pm (local time) as that's the time when our first match against Lebanon kicks-off. The temperature was 39 degrees," he informed. India play their first qualifying match in Muscat on June 23 against Lebanon.

"We will play another practice match on Tuesday (June 19). The squad has so far stayed away from injuries and we need to take care of ourselves," Papas maintained.