India U-17 football team, World Cup, Italy, friendly, U-17 WC
India U-17 players celebrate their massive win over ItalyAIFF

The India U17 football team defeated Italy U17 2-0 in a friendly match in Arizo.

Abhijit Sarkar (31st minute) and Rahul Praveen (80th) scored for India, with the first goal coming in the 31st minute and the second ten minutes from full time.

The match is part of an exposure tour of Europe for the Indian boys as they gear up for the U17 World Cup to be held in India later this year.

The Indian boys dominated possession for a major part of the game and created more chances than the Italian side.

India came off stronger off the blocks, and gave the hosts a tough time early on.

Komal Thatal's eighth minute strike almost beat the Italian custodian, as the Indians gunned for an early lead.

In the 13th minute, Aniket came close to scoring for India, but his effort went straight down the goalkeeper's throat resulting in an easy save.

In the 31st minute, however, Sarkar's cross took a wicked deflection off the Italian defence line and ended up in the back of the opposition net to give India the lead.

In the 59th minute, Aniket missed a one-on-one chance against the Italian goalkeeper after he rounded the opposition custodian, but failed to convert.

In the 75th minute, Rahul came close to scoring, but again failed to tap the rebound home from close range, after Aniket's shot was met with a superb save by the Italian custodian.

Scoring chances kept coming for the Indians and they finally made their domination count in the 80th minute, when Rahul scored from inside the Italian penalty box.