AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers: India beat Turkmenistan to bow out on a high

Dammamm: India blanked Turkmenistan 3-0 in the last Group D match to end their campaign in the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers on a rousing note on Wednesday. Skipper Amarjit Singh opened the scoring in the 74th minute, Abhishek Halder doubled the lead in the 80th and Edmund completed the tally with a strike in the 92nd as India dominated the proceedings for the better part of the game. [caption id=“attachment_4200205” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Indian U-19 team line up before their match against Turkmenistan. Image courtesy: AIFF[/caption] The crowd that gathered at the Prince Mohammad bin Fahad Stadium chanted ‘India! India!’ as Luis Norton de Matos’ players registered their first win of the tournament. Dominating possession and making frequent forays into the rival citadel, the Indians created innumerable scoring chances in the first half but were somehow not able to break the deadlock. India’s domination continued in the second half and even as Turkmenistan rarely threatened the opposition citadel, lady luck finally smiled on Matos’ team when Amarjit found the back of the net. There was more to come from India as Halder doubled the lead by tapping the ball into an empty six minutes later, and Edmund completed the rout in the injury time. India, thus, ended the qualifiers with four points from three matches. They started with a drubbing at the hands of Saudi Arabia and drew Yemen in their second match.