By IANS,
Bangkok: India fought hard but lost 2-5 to Vietnam to bow out of the Yamaha ASEAN Cup Under-13 football tournament at the Yamaha stadium here Saturday.
It was India’s second defeat in as many matches, having lost to Thailand-A in the opening match Friday.
The Indian team quickly conceded three goals and were down 0-3 against the nimble-footed Vietnamese.
Premananda Singha then struck twice to reduce the margin to 3-2 by the half time.
India could not carry the momentum in the second half and Vietnam with two swift goals towards the later stages sealed the issue.
Yamaha’s Arnab Bhattacharjee, who is filling in the shoes of the coach’s job in absence of Mritunjoy Hazra, blamed it on the boys’ lack of fitness.
“They did a great job by hitting those two goals but lacked the stamina in the second half. They couldn’t keep pace with the Vietnamese boys,” he said.
The Indian boys will now return home Monday night.