SAFF U15 Championships 2019: India rout Sri Lanka 5-0 to progress to final; Nepal keep their hopes alive

India maintained their unbeaten run in the SAFF U15 Championships with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Sri Lanka at the Kalyani Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Himanshu Jangra scored a hat-trick to secure a well-deserved victory and cement their place in the final of the five-nation tournament. India will play its last group stage match against Bangladesh this Thursday.

After no goals in the first half an hour of play, the match swung in India’s favour in the next fifteen minutes. Himanshu opened the scoring for India in the 32nd minute of the match, while Maheson Singh doubled the lead seven minutes later. Himanshu completed his brace in the 42nd minute, while Subho Paul piled on the again by netting a fourth in the first half’s stoppage time.

Leading by four goals, the Bibiano Fernandes-coached team played safe. The Sri Lankan footballers were never in the game. The third strike from Himanshu in the 61st minute was the icing on the cake. With the win, Indian has now scored 17 goals in the tournament and conceded none.

Coach Bibiano Fernandes feels that the result is due to the effort of the entire. “We have set an objective before coming here, we are looking into that. It’s not only the defence but the whole team condition,” said the coach at the post-match press conference.

Having already qualified for the finals, the coach might rest a few players in the match against Bangladesh, most likely their opponent in the title clash. Regarding the matter, Bibiano said, “We will take a decision after we get the result between the Nepal-Bangladesh match. It is also an opportunity for the reserves.”

In the other match, Nepal stunned Bangladesh 4-1 with a clinical performance. Bangladesh needs to win against India to keep their title aspirations alive, while Nepal will through to the finals if they defeat Bhutan in the final group stage match.