The Under-16 Indian Football team defeated Iraq, on Monday, in the ongoing WAFF U-16 Championship taking place in Amman, Jordan. The impressive 1-0 victory over the Iraqi side was dedicated to all the fellow Indian coaches by Head Coach Bibiano Fernandes. The triumph comes a day after the U-20 team defeated six-time World Champions Argentina in the ongoing COTIF Cup 2018.

The win is a historic one as it is for the first time that any Indian football team, across all age groups, have managed to defeat the Iraq football team. The win is a little more special as Iraq also happens to be the current U-16 Asian Champion.

The evenly poised match saw both the sides fight tooth and nail to seal a victory in the first 90 minutes. However, no team could score a goal. Eventually, it was the brilliance of Buevenesh who broke the deadlock and headed the match-winner in the added time.

The match-winning goal was a perfect finish to the tense match in the night, in which the Indian team emerged victoriously. In their previous encounter, the game had ended in a 0-0 draw, which was played during the AFC U-16 Qualifiers in Nepal.

Talking to AIFF, Head Coach Fernandes said, “I would like to dedicate this win to all my fellow Indian Coaches who train the boys before they join us at the AIFF Academy and eventually the National Team. We need to start believing in ourselves. The team thanks the fans and well-wishers of Indian Football who have always stood by us. We have the AFC U-16 Championship at the back of our minds. It’s fast approaching, and I pray for the boys to stay away from injuries.”

A day earlier, it was the U-20 Football team that brought laurels to the country by defeating the six-time World Champs Argentina in the ongoing COTIF Cup 2018. Not too long ago, the senior Indian football team had won the Intercontinental Cup, also. The consistent success of the Indian football teams across all age-groups is good news for every sports fan in India!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 06, 2018 07:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).