Skipper Suresh Singh Wangjam struck in the injury time to help India come from behind and hold Saudi Arabia to a 3-3 draw in a Group A match of the AFC U-16 football championships, here on Sunday.
Skipper Suresh Singh Wangjam struck in the injury time to help India come from behind and hold Saudi Arabia to a 3-3 draw in a Group A match of the AFC U-16 football championships, here on Sunday.
India enjoyed a 2-1 lead in the first half through strikes from Aniket Anil Jadhav (5th minute) and Aman Chetri (23rd).
Saudi Arabia scored through Aldhuwayhi Abdulaziz in the 34th minute before substitute Albrikan Feras Tariq N. found the net in the 82nd and 83rd minutes to put his team up.
But the home team did not loose heart and tried their best to find the equaliser and was awarded a penalty in the injury time which Wangjam scored to split points.
There was more drama before the end of the final whistle as Saudi Arabia keeper Abdulaziz Almalki was red carded for abusing the referee.
Both the teams opened their account from Sunday’s draw and kept their chances alive for a place in the next round.
Saudi Arabia play the UAE on September 21 while India face Iran on the same day.
The teams played attacking game as they played quick shorts passes and made inroads into each other’s citadel.
India, who looked more dominating in the first half, kept probing from the left and met early success in the fifth minute.
