The Indian football team began their SAFF U-16 Championship in style by drubbing 10-man Sri Lanka 4-1 in their Group B opener at the Army Ground here Sunday.
India, who are being represented by All India Football Federation (AIFF) Regional Academy's U-15 boys, had little problem in dismantling their Asian rivals.
Striker Bedashwor Singh struck twice in each half (23rd, 88th) while Krishna Pandit (21st) and Prosenjit Chakroborty (66th) scored one apiece to seal what was an easy win for the Goutam Ghosh-coached side.
"Results stay immaterial. We wanted to see whether we were sticking to our philosophy, and I am glad that the boys were able to do that," Ghosh said after the match.
"We had 75 percent of the ball possession. The Lankans were defending with ten men for most part of the match. We need to work on a few areas and for that we will be watching the video footage of the match. Before the match against Bangladesh, hopefully we will be able to plug the holes," he added.
India next play Bangladesh Thursday.
