10-man India U-20 Stun Argentina 2-1 in Final COTIF Cup Outing
Valencia, Aug 06: Against the odds, India's U-20 side led by Amarjit Singh Kiyam stunned a much changed Argentina U-20 side 2-1 in their final group stage game at the COTIF Cup in Valencia. The result though did not affect the South American side's progress, as they will now play Uruguay in the semi-final.
India came out of the blocks faster than their opponents, and within the first five minutes, a corner taken by Ninthoiganba Meetei was met with the head by Deepak Tangri. Alan Diaz, the Argentine keeper failed to hold onto it and turned it into his own net, thus gifting India the surprise lead.
Buoyed by the early lead, India continued to press high up the pitch and attack their illustrious opponents. With Aniket Jadhav playing the role of a target man, India did not fail to create during the first half. Jadhav was caught offside twice as Suresh Singh and Boris Singh both found him with through balls. In defense, Anwar Ali stood tall and marshalled the back line effectively.
After the break, captain Amarjit Singh provided Ali with a great chance to double the lead and extend India’s advantage on the night, but this time the Argentine keeper Alan Diaz was up to the task and kept his side in the hunt.
Soon after though, India were reduced to ten men, as striker Aniket Jadhav was given his marching orders with more than half an hour left to play.
The Indian Colts kept their shape and did not panic despite the waves of attacks by the Argentines. Goal-keeper Prabh Sekhon Gill needed to be alert as he pulled off two fantastic saves to deny the South Americans in the space of five minutes.
Pinto’s boys soaked up the pressure as Lionel Scaloni’s team threw the kitchen sink at them as they went looking for an equalizer. Scaloni was recently appointed, alongside Pablo Aimar, as the interim manager for the Argentine senior national team for the next three friendly matches in September and October.
Half way into the second half, India won a free-kick from some way out in the attacking half after Rahim Ali had been fouled. Anwar Ali stepped up to take it and took the direct route. His attempt bounced of the woodwork and into the back of the net, leaving Diaz and Argentina shell shocked. With just over 20 minutes left in the game, India were 2-0 up.
Prabhsukhan Gill’s though would not return with a second consecutive clean sheet as Alan Marinelli cut in on his right foot from the left and send it over his head to reduce the deficit to one goal.
Buoyed by that and the numerical advantage, Argentina stepped it up in attack in the final minutes. Deep in stoppage time an attack down the left saw the ball swung back in dangerously to the Indian penalty box and the header had Gill beaten, but it was the woodwork that saved the day for Pinto’s side.
This was India's first win at the tournament, after they drew 0-0 against Venezuela U-20 in their third game, and lost against Murcia U-20 (2-0) and Mauritania U-20 (3-0).
Watch all the goals from the match below.
Courtesy: www.news18.com
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Mamata continues sit-in for second successive day over Bengal voter roll deletions
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continued her protest against alleged arbitrary deletions in the post-SIR electoral rolls for the second consecutive day on Saturday, after she spent the night at the sit-in site here.
Banerjee had begun the demonstration at Metro Channel in central Kolkata on Friday, accusing the Election Commission of conspiring with the BJP to “disenfranchise Bengal voters” ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
The chief minister stayed overnight at the protest site, surrounded by senior Trinamool Congress leaders, legislators and party workers, turning the busy Esplanade stretch into a makeshift political camp.
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Addressing supporters on Friday afternoon, Banerjee alleged that large numbers of genuine voters were being removed from the electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The CM also reiterated her claim that several voters had been "wrongly marked as dead” and said she would present such individuals before the media and the Election Commission to expose what she described as an "attempt to manipulate the voter list to help the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls".
Senior TMC leaders and state ministers remained present at the venue, while party supporters gathered at the protest site in the morning.
The protest comes just days before the full bench of the Election Commission is scheduled to visit West Bengal, amid rising political tensions over the voter list revision ahead of the assembly polls.
According to official data released on February 28, as many as 63.66 lakh names — around 8.3 per cent of the electorate — have been deleted since the SIR process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed under the “under adjudication” category, meaning their eligibility will be determined through legal scrutiny in the coming weeks, a process that could further reshape constituency-level electoral equations.
