MillenniumPost
Sports

India were so emotional after scoring they forgot to defend: FIFA official

Kolkata: FIFA head of coaching and player development Branimir Ujevic on Sunday empathised with the Indian team saying they were so emotional after scoring their only goal of the U-17 World Cup against Colombia that they wanted to break into the stands and celebrate with the fans.

Ujevic added that Luis Matos' colts, who finished last in Group A after losing all three matches against the US, Colombia and Ghana, rode on Jeakson Singh's header to draw level against the Colombians after they had taken the lead. But moments later, they were trailing again even before the historic moment had sunk in.
Jeakson strode into the history books as the country's first ever World Cup goalscorer. India lost 1-2.
"The first game (vs USA) was a tactical game and in the second one against Colombia they were amazing. They were tactically and physically prepared and created chances as well. That's football," Ujevic said.
"They were so emotional. They forgot how to protect the goal after scoring. They wanted to go to the stands and celebrate with fans. They will take a lot of lessons from this tournament," he added.
"India were a very nice team with two midfield players and also the goalkeeper (Dheeraj Singh) impressing me. For me, one interesting thing is that one guy who is 16 years old (Jeakson) put his footprint in the history of Indian football and scored the first goal in a World Cup for India. At just 16, it's a great achievement," he said.

Next Story
Share it