AIFF boys storm in to Subroto Cup semi finals

AIFF Academy boys edged Gothia Cup winners to reach final of the ongoing Subroto Cup

Boys from the All India Football Federation’s elite academy in Goa will take on Indonesia’s Daftar Nama Kontingen in the second Junior Boys (Under-17) semifinals of the 56th Subroto Cup International Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Wednesday.

Playing under the watchful eyes of Scott O’Donnell, the AIFF boys, made a fine comeback in the fourth and final quarterfinal to defeat Gothia Cup champions BK Hacken FC 2-1 in extra time. Earlier in the day, the Indonesian boys scored a 3-1 win over BSL+2 High School, Bokaro Steel City (Jharkhand).

The winner from the aforementioned will play qualifier from the other semifinal which will be contested between Little Angels Paradise School, Wangbal (Manipur) and Betkuchi High School, Guwahati (Assam).

Swedish boys had the upper hand in 1st half

Starting on an extremely positive note, Filip Trasnanovski headed in to score in the 19th minute. After that Hacken boys defended astutely to hold on to their lead till half time. Post the break though, the national team boys upped the ante and created several chances. Soon Edmond was brought down in the area and the referee blew for the spot kick. Edmund made no mistake with his shot as he placed the ball to the right of the diving.

Surprisingly though, there seemed to be no urgency at either end to net the winner, this even as the dreaded extra time approached.

The first half of the added half an hour did not see any goal-threatening move but in the second minute of the later session, a cross from Niswm Muchaharry on the right when he was challenged went straight to Bodo who directed the ball in for the winner.

The Swedes’ clearly perturbed, indulged in rough play since and saw Lenus Nurmi being sent off.

Indonesia reman the only foreign team left in the competition

Indonesia sent Jharkhand packing

In an earlier match, the Jharkhand boys were no match to the Indonesians who made precise moves throughout to control the game.

Much in sync with the flow of play, the Daftar boys went ahead in the 19th minute though Rizky Adrilah and just before the interval made it 2-0 through Egy Maulana Fikri’s wonder strike.

After the change of ends, Jharkhand played a little better and passed well. They even pulled one back through TH Yaipharbambitio in the 57th minute. However inspite of their persistent efforts, they couldn’t find an equalizer and late in injury time, Ecy Maulana scored to seal the result.