India U-17 football team to play Italy on May 19

India colts will lock horns with Italy on Friday, in what will be another tough test, as a part of its preparation for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup. The match will be held in Arezzo. Luis Norton de Matos' side lost 1-2 to Sporting Lisbon in the last match of its exposure trip to Europe on May 10. Sporting Lisbon created a few chances towards the end of the game but the Indian defenders saw off the danger to keep the scoreline unchanged.

Before that, the India team went down 0-3 to Portuguese club SL Benfica in a friendly match in Lisbon. The Indians had claimed a 2-2 draw against the same club on April 27. Spanish and Barcelona legend Carles Puyol was in the Capital on Monday to launch the ticket sales for the Under-17 World Cup. He handed over the first lot of tickets to the grand daughter-in-law of 1911 IFA Shield winning Mohun Bagan captain Shibdas Bhaduri. Bhaduri had led the Mohun Bagan team that became the first Indian team to beat a British team in the final of a major tournament.