Playing in a FIFA World Cup tournament for the first time, hosts India fell to 3-0 loss against a strong USA side at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.Captain Josh Sargent opened the scoring from the penalty spot, while two second half strikes from Chris Durkin and Andrew Carleton ensured USA began their FIFA Under-17 World Cup campaign with a comfortable win.The hosts were scrappy to begin with, which allowed their opponents to take the game to them. Indian ‘keeper Dheeraj Singh was called into the action as soon as the fifth minute when he stood tall to thwart Carleton in a one-on-one situation. However, it was not long before the Blue Colts grew into the game, and although they rarely threatened to score, the visitors were not creating any opportunities either.That was until the 30th minute when a mistimed challenge by Jitendra Singh gave away a penalty for Sargent to slot home, sending Dheeraj the wrong way.The Indians tried to push for an equaliser, especially with Komal Thatal making some decisive runs along the flanks. However, the USA defence refused to budge and the visitors went into the tunnel at half-time with a slender one-goal advantage.USA started the second half on the front foot, and the 48th minute saw Dheeraj coming up with a sharp save to once again deny Carleton. However, it didn’t take long for them to double their lead. Three minutes later, a corner came their way that the Indians failed to deal with, and Durkin was at hand to smash home the second.India had a great chance to get one back in the 56th minute when Thatal found himself goal-bound with only the ‘keeper to beat. But the 17-year-old from Sikkim, with the intention of lobbing just the goalkeeper, put his shot over the bar.A third goal came the visitors’ way in the 84th minute, but only after sheer bad luck prevented the Indians from scoring themselves. Anwar Ali’s powerful shot rattled the crossbar, but as the ball came back into play, USA launched a swift counter attack that ended with Carleton rounding off Dheeraj and rolling the ball into the net to effectively put the result beyond doubt. There was precious few to offer in what remained of the match as the visitors ran out 3-0 winners to go top of Group A after the first round of fixtures.
