From joy to despair in a matter of minute saw the fighting Indian youngsters’ slump to their second straight defeat in the under-17 World Cup here on Monday. After Juan Penaloza put Colombia ahead at the start of the second half, hosts equalised late on through Jeackson Singh's header from a corner in the 82nd minute. But a minute later, the visitors broke the home crowds' hearts as they scored again through Penaloza to help Orlando Restrepo’s side register their maiden victory of the tournament, while hosts remain winless after two matches.
After two matches, India remain at the bottom of the group with zero points, while USA top the group with six points. Ghana and Colombia occupy the second and third position respectively with three points each. The hosts still have a faintest of hope for qualifying for the last-16, if they can finish as one of the four best-placed third position sides in their group.
Indian coach luis Norton de Matos made four changes to the side. Central defender Namit Deshpande, right-back Boris Singh, who returned after serving his one-match suspension, defensive-midfielder Jeackson Singh and forward Rahim Ali were all brought-in. The most surprising of the change was seeing Indian main attacking threat Komal Thatal dropped to the bench. As Boris returned to the right-back position, KP Rahul, who played in that position against USA in the opener, was pushed to the left-wing position due to his attacking abilities.
Jeackson stayed back in the midfield to provide shield to his centre-backs, while Abhijit Sarkar played behind the lone striker Rahim in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
The move seemed to work for the hosts as they stayed compact at the back and did not allow Colombia much room to work with. Apart from long range wayward attempts, Colombia managed to create only one proper shot from the penalty box in the opening half. Campaz's 37th minute header was easily parried away by Indian keeper Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
But the best chance fell to the hosts. In the 16th minute, Abhijit found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper Kevin Mier after dribbling past couple of defenders but the keeper made himself big and saved the shot. The resulting corner didn't yield much either for India.
It was de Matos' side which ended the half on the front foot. In the injury time, India came close to scoring but Rahul's left-footed shot hit the left-side of the bar leaving the home fans disappointed.
However, it was Colombia which drew the first blood in the second half. Just four minutes after the restart, Juan Penaloza controlled a diagonal cross neatly from Thomas Gutierrez and cut-inside to his favourite left-foot to fire a curling shot beyond the keeper as the visitors left the home crowd in despair.
India's response was good. Immediately, two well-timed crosses from the right side were provided by Ninthoinganba Meetei. From the second one, Rahul headed the ball wide.
In the 66th minute, Sarkar came off and centre-forward Aniket Jadhav replaced him. That substitution paid dividends as 10 minutes later, Aniket made a great run in the left-flank and fed substitute Nongdamba Naorem. But the winger's shot from close range was saved by American keeper Mier.
India, then, got a lifeline after Jeackson Singh scored from Sanjeev Stalin's corner in the 82nd minute. It was incidentally India's first-ever goal in a FIFA tournament.
However, the joy was short-lived. In the very next minute, Penaloza scored again after controlling a well-timed chip cross from Gustavo Carvajal and glanced it past the keeper with his right-foot.
In the injury time, substitute Nongdamba made a dazzling run into the box after beating couple of defenders, but failed to have a shot and was not able to find his teammates.
The final whistle meant India were almost out of the World Cup, but it did not prevent the crowd from giving a standing ovation for the players as they recognised the hosts' brave effort against a well organised side.