Watch: How spectators celebrated India’s first goal at FIFA U-17 World Cup
(Photo: Subrata Dutta/SNS)
Even though India suffered their second successive defeat and were out of the contention at the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Monday, Jeakson Singh Thanoujam scripted history as he struck nation’s first ever goal in a FIFA event.
Jeakson scored for India in the 82nd minute, to equalize the score 1-1, though the hosts conceived another goal in the very next minute and Colombia were on top again. At full-time, the scoreline read 2-1 in the favour of Colombia.
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However, the nation celebrated Jeakson’s heroics in front of more than 46,000 vociferous crowd at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
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The 16-year-old midfielder, who hails from from Haokha Mamang village in Manipur’s Thoubal district, was full of emotions when India’s glorious moment arrived, though he wanted it to result in a victory.
“It was a nice experience and I felt on cloud nine when I scored the goal, however we tried our best but were unlucky. It is obviously a great feeling to score for my country in a FIFA World Cup but it would have been sweeter had we won the match. To me in fact it does not even matter as long as we score,” Jeakson, who headed in a perfect Sanjeev Stalin corner, said.
“We deserved a result, and we tried our very best to get it, but in the process we learnt a huge lesson what international football is all about,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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