A last-gasp penalty conversion by Indian captain Suresh Singh kept the hosts alive in the AFC Under-16 Championship following a thrilling 3-3 draw against Saudi Arabia in Margao on Sunday.
India were given the perfect start with early goals by Aniket Jadhav and Aman Chetri, but then found Saudi Arabia coming back into the game through Sulaiman Aldhuwayhi. Two second-half goals by substitute Feras Albrikan threatened to knock India out of the tournament, before they earned and converted the penalty with literally the last kick of the game.
With Iran and United Arab Emirates, the other two teams in Group A playing out a 1-1 draw earlier in the day, no team is yet guaranteed a place in the quarterfinals going into the final day of group matches.
India were the brighter starter of the two, with Aman finding himself in space in the middle of the pitch, from where he released Aniket to his right. Aniket's attempted shot ricocheted on to an onrushing Amarjit Singh, who took the first shot on the goal in the match.
Two minutes later, Sanjeev Stalin took a throw from the left which was met by Komal Thatal, who wasted no time in cutting the ball back in for Aniket, who controlled the ball with his first touch and then placed it across the face of goal to give India the lead. The Indians had a chance to increase the lead in the 13th minute, when Sanjeev looked to chip Saudi Arabian goalkeeper Hashem Alasmari from the left, and Alasmari's save almost fell for Komal.
However, India were not to be denied in the 22nd minute, when Boris Singh put in an energetic run from the left flank. He took out two defenders and then with the Saudi defence at his mercy, selflessly cut the ball back for Aman, whose first-time attempt took a diving defender's hand but rolled into the vacant net.
The two-goal deficit whipped the former champions into action, as first Hamad Alabdan took advantage of a poor clearance from his own corner to cut inside and shoot at the target from close range, but Dheeraj Singh palmed the ball away. In the next few minutes, there were speculative attempts on goal from Dhari Alanazi and Albeshe Mansor.
In the 34th minute, Saudi's efforts bore fruit as Alanazi's cross from the left was met by a powerful header from Aldhuwayhi. With a goal behind them, the Saudi Arabian attack kept the pressure on their opponents and Aniket found his name going into the referee's book in the 38th minute with a high challenge on Alanazi.
In first half injury time, a freekick from the left found Saudi captain Mousa Almas, but his right-footed effort beat Dheeraj in goal but hit the post. A minute later, India conceded a penalty when Aldhuwayhi was held back by Sanjeev, but from the resultant penalty, Dheeraj effected his second penalty save in two matches.
Early in the second half, the Indian coach Nicolai Adam chose to go a little conservative with his substitutions, bringing on Ninthoinganba and Lalengmawia in place of his two scorers. Saudi would do exactly the opposite as the half wore on, at one stage bringing on tall strikers Albrikan and Turki Almutairi.
In the 71st minute, Almutairi's first contribution was to use his build to good effect in meeting a cross from the right by Almas, but his stinging header went just wide of Dheeraj's goal. Saudi Arabia eventually found their equaliser off a well-worked short corner routine in the 82nd minute, as Albrikan met a low cross from the left and stabbed it home.
Within a minute, Albrikan used the side of his heel to tap Saudi Arabia into the lead for the first time in the match after a low cross was whipped in by Alsawat Abdullah, this time from the right.
With the match heading towards the end, Mali had the chance to put the game beyond India's end in injury time, but his right-footed effort from distance came off the crossbar. With the four minutes of added time fast elapsing, India were given a freekick near the centre line, which was taken by Dheeraj.
From the resultant goalmouth melee, Lalengmawia picked the ball up inside the box and moved towards goal, but he was blocked by goalkeeper Alasmari. Suresh would quell all challengers for the penalty kick, and his conversion was spot on, sending the keeper the wrong way and burying the ball in the top corner.
India's last match against Iran is on September 21 and will kick off at 7 pm, with India needing a win to have any chance of making it to the last eight.