The match had its defining moment in the 84th minute when Anwar Ali’s shot came off the crossbar.
It was the closest India came to scoring all evening.
India played their biggest football game on Friday in the FIFA U-17 World Cup at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi against USA in the first group stage game.
Andrew Carleton, Chris Durkin scored in the second half after Josh Sargent’s opening goal for USA.
In the second half Anwar Ali smashed it against the crossbar after he found himself unmarked behind the USA defence.
An inch lower and it would have been 2-1 – safe to say that would have changed the nature of the final minutes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The fact that India catch-up game against a superior opposition, would not have changed.
“We can play much better. You have to break down an opposition and our execution wasn’t great in the final play,” said Josh Hackworth.
Dheeraj Singh, Anwar Ali and Jitendra Singh required to stay strong in the heart of the defence. Anything close to a meltdown in that part of the field would have a rout.
While India had never participated in a World Cup, the fact that they debuted in the FIFA U-17 World Cup is remarkable in itself. Though they qualify automatically for being the host country.
India is in Group A alongside USA, Ghana and Colombia. They play Colombia next on Monday at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi itslef.