India U-17 football team beat Italy 2-0, full match highlights

India U-17 team have recorded a famous win over Italy as part of their preparations for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in October.

The Indian U-17 team have defeated the Italian U-17 team 2-0 in a friendly in Arizo, Italy. India struck once in both halves to seal what is their first win in the Exposure tour of Europe that they have undertaken ahead of the U-17 World Cup in October.

Abhijit Sarkar gave India the lead in the 31st minute. India then pushed for a second goal but Italy managed to keep them out and keep the deficit to one goal at half time. India had a few chances to go ahead even in the early minutes of the first half and the it was the same story in the second too.

Malayali boy Rahul goal against italy u17 @IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/VWQIpdgBFd

— Manjappada KBFC Fans (@kbfc_manjappada) May 19, 2017

What a great occasion this ! Congratulations to the boys. Indeed historic. https://t.co/lHxikPrD9W

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 19, 2017

India took the 1-0 lead into halftime and soon got back to business trying to extend that lead in the second half. They nearly did so near the hour mark when Aniket managed to get behind the backline. However, the forward couldn’t finish off the one on one opportunity.

In the 59^th minute, Aniket missed a one versus one chance against the Italian goalkeeper after he rounded the opposition custodian up but failed to convert. India were undeterred and kept the opposition goalkeeper busy.

In the 80th minute, the repeated attempts on goal finally bore fruit for India as Rahul scored from inside the box to double India’s lead and the scoreline read 2-0.

Italy looked second best throughout the match while India were a far cry from the team that only managed a 1-1 draw against a Paris based football club last week. Italy could not qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup that will be played in India between October 6 and 28, 2017. The tournament will be played across six venues across the country with Kochi being the latest to be confirmed as ready to host the tournament.