KUWAIT CITY: Australia beat India 1-4 at the Ali Sabah Al-Salem Stadium here on Sunday, which was a setback for India in the AFC U-20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2023 Qualifiers.

This was India's second straight loss in the four-team group. In the first game, they lost 2-4 to Iraq. Even though the scoreboard made it look like a rout, India lost on Sunday, just like they did in the game against Iraq two days before.

India was down by two goals after the first half, but they came back with a lot of heart in the second. Their captain Gurkirat Singh scored a long-range goal in the 63rd minute that caught Australia's goalkeeper Jack Warshawsky off guard, hit the post, and went in.

It wasn't the only time Shanmugam Venkatesh's team caused problems for the Australia defence. In fact, the Indians came close to scoring more than once, but bad shooting and bad luck kept them from scoring at least a couple of goals that could have changed the story of the day.

After Gurkirat cut the difference in half, India had a great chance to tie the score in the 76th minute. The Indian captain was back in the action when he dribbled around the Australian goalkeeper and sent the ball across an empty net.

Taison came in from the other side to try to flick it, but it was stopped just in time, which made the Australian bench happy. India missed out on another great chance early in the second half when Himanshu Jangra cut inside with great style, but his shot went back because it hit the left post.

In the 12th minute of the first half, Garang Koul got the ball just inside the Indian box and smashed it in after getting past the defender Amandeep. This gave Australia the lead. The Indians actually failed in the middle of the field. Alex Bandolato was allowed to take the ball in the middle without a proper challenge, and he made the most of it by sending a perfect pass to the right.

The Indians were most upset by how the second goal was scored against them in the 32nd minute. From the right side, Joseph Forde sent a cross, and as defender Bikash Yumnam tried to clear the ball, he hit it with his head and it went into the Indian goal. In the last five minutes of the game, when India tried to attack with everything they had, they gave up two more goals.

In the 86th minute, Adrian Segecic hit a spectacular volley that beat Indian goalkeeper Syed Zahid Bukhari all the way around. In injury time, Max Caputo put the final nail in the coffin.

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