Barasat (West Bengal): The AIFF XI went down fighting 1-2 to Frenz United of Indonesia in their first home match of the Asia Champions Trophy at the Barasat Stadium here on Saturday.
Both the captains scored for their respective teams – while Prasenjit Chakraborty had put India in the lead in injury time of the first half, Dody Al Fayed restored parity in the 83rd minute.
But it was Habibi (89th minute) who scored the winner in the dying minutes of the match.
AIFF XI, represented by the U-16 national team seized the initiative right from the kick-off.
They switched it from one end to the other and there was always the spare one in the midfield to manoeuvre and initiate.
The rivals preferred to play the waiting game.
It was in the 20th minute when the Kalyani Academy boys got their first try at the rival goal.
Jerry Lalrinzuala’s free-kick found Nuruddin Sameer’s head but the effort narrowly sailed over.
AIFF XI’s domination continued and the best chance came in the 20th minute when the academy boys were awarded an indirect free-kick on the edge of the 6-yard box.
But the onrushing wall of the Indonesian boys managed to block Jerry Lalrinzuala’s try.
Prasenjit’s solo run down the midfield in the 30th minute tore apart the rival defense but even as he found Nijawm Muchahary in the clear, the latter was intercepted by the defence which recovered fast.
The plethora of passes played again split open Frenz United in the 40th minute.
But this time Prasenjit, tried to find the spare one instead of having a crack at the goal.
The very next minute, Nuruddin intercepting Jerry’s diagonal ball which beat, sidestepped his marker and invaded into the box. But his left-footer went awry.
Eventually, the first goal which was so much inevitable came in the injury time of the first-half.
A Jerry Lalrinzuala free-kick was headed by Amey Ranawade but it bounced back off the post but only for Prasenjit to tap it in.
The script for the second-half in the first ten minutes stayed the same as the first.
The twinkling quick feet and the ability to play those deft touches even in the crowd kept the rivals guessing.
Prasenjit almost doubled his tally in the 58th minute but even as he ran past the defence, his left-footer went straight to the rival goalkeeper Rizky Adianta.
Frenz United, Indonesia Coach Enchang Ibrahim admitted his Team were lucky to earn a win.
“It was a lucky win for us,” he said. “Despite the victory we still have a lot to improve,” he maintained.
Meanwhile, AIFF XI Head Coach Gautam Ghosh opined that he needs to “analyse” his Team’s performance. “We played well in the first half and even in the second but ended up on the losing side. There are areas we need to improve upon prior to our next match against PVF Vietnam next weekend,” he added. (PTI)