Jeakson Singh’s 82nd-minute header has made him a hero overnight. Singh became the first Indian to score a FIFA goal ever. With this effort, he has registered his name forever in the record books apart from sending the Twitter-sphere into a tizzy. Though India lost the match to Colombia 2-1, this goal scored by the youngster will provide a lot of belief to the team who were not up to the mark in their first encounter against the USA. Jeakson brought things to level terms with his emphatic header but that was not good enough to stop India from escaping defeat. But it was Juan Penaloza (49th, 83rd minute), who drowned the Indian dreams by scoring both the goals.
Both India and Colombia were looking to find their first victory in the tournament, after losing to the US and Ghana respectively in their initial fixtures. Indian Goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem was already marked out as one of the star players before the tournament and has lived up to the billing ever since. He was the one who saved India the blushes in the first game, where the scoreline could have been much worse than 3-0.
Here is how the Twitter world reacted during and after the game:
India can hold their heads high with pride. The boys played really well and could have snatched a draw #INDvsCOL #FIFAU17WorldCup_____
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) October 9, 2017
Another encouraging display from India at the #FifaU17WorldCup. Further proof that we need to invest in youth football.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 9, 2017
Great work by Dheeraj at the Goal Post! C’mon India… let’s win this one! #INDvCOL @IndianFootball @FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/FYdRPlflOx
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 9, 2017
Not sure if I’ve been happier watching a goal scored by an Indian team. So much to be proud about and so much to learn. #INDvCOL
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) October 9, 2017
Check out Rahul at the back. On his knees. He understood what that goal meant. So much emotion right now. So pumped for this bunch! pic.twitter.com/ssikZt9Klq
— Sharan Karnani (@sharank14) October 9, 2017
A very closely fought game.
Congratulations to Jeakson for scoring the India’s first goal in #FIFAU17WC.
Keep believing! #INDvCOL pic.twitter.com/SC4VNlYOIa— Praful Patel (@praful_patel) October 9, 2017
Great effort by India tonight but tough luck to go down. We will only get better. Dheeraj was simply brilliant. #INDvCOL
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) October 9, 2017
Well played @IndianFootball , spirited to the end. The heart was shown and the respect gained! Football is definitely on the up in India
— David James (@jamosfoundation) October 9, 2017
The Colombia loss means that India will have to beat Ghana by a massive margin in their last group match and pray that Colombia loses to the US in order to enter the knockout phase.
