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With just 12 days remaining for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be hosted in India, South American giants Colombia’s U17 Football Team got the first taste of Indian Football at the Heritage Academy Grounds in Gurgaon when they hosted Minerva Punjab FC’s Under-20 in a Friendly on on Wednesday, September 27 evening.
It was no surprise for the Indian Football fans as the South American giants choose to play the Mohali-based club in their first practice match on Indian Soil as Minerva Punjab FC have been in the news lately for contributing over 18 players in various age groups for Indian National Youth Team and four to the Indian U-17 World Cup team who will host Colombia U-17 on October 9 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
Minerva Punjab FC’s assistant coach Sachin Bahadhe fielded a competative side for the historical game with local goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh bought in to guard the woodwork and Punjabi defender Kamalpreet Singh along with Ibrahim, newly recruit Mumbaikar Rahul Das and Salman Lateef in the backline.
The Game started with the Colombian team making a quick attack and earning an early corner, but the kick landed into safe hands of Minervan Custodian Arshdeep Singh. The next moments saw the young Los Cafeteros making continued moves to penetrate in the Minervans backline with midfielders Andrés Felipe Perea and Etilso Martínez Palacio trying to set up thru balls for attacker Déiber Caicedo but some fierce defending by Minervan Kamalpreet Singh saw their intentions denied.
The best chance in the first half came in the 18th Minute for Colombia when midfielder Brayan Gómez freekick was denied by Arshdeep’s acrobatic save, but soon after in the 25th Minute striker Deyman Andrés Cortés gave his side the lead thru a fine finish to make the scoreline 1-0 in their favour. The final moments of the half saw Minervan striker Luntinmang Haokip trying to swift past the Colombian backline but the alert Los Cafeteros defender Juan Peñaloza averted the danger.
A much needed motivational talk by Gaffer Sachin Bahadhe & CEO Ranjit Bajaj saw the boys come roaring back as they started on a positive note and earning an early free kick on the edge of the box, former Okyeman Planners FC & Middlesbrough U-23 midfielder Minerva’s newest 20 year old Ghanian recruit William Opoku Asiedu stepped up to convert the kick but his shot missed the woodwork by inches. Soon after, Mohammed Ajruddin made a beautiful shuffle past defenders Juan Peñaloza and Thomás Gutiérrez but missed the final touch. The Minervans were dominant in the second half and held on maximum ball possession. Midfielder Moinuddin too anchored in some wonderful thru balls for Ajaryddin and Luntinmang Haokip but the latter failed to make the best of it. Former India U-15 Captain Krishna Pandit had the chance of the game when he had a 1-on-1 with the Colombian custodian, but was bought down and denied a penalty.
The match ended with the Los Cafeteros earning their first victory on Indian soil against Minerva Punjab FC U-20 ahead of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
