Reports sent out by the Indian football association claiming their under-17 team beat Italy in a friendly were reportedly greatly exaggerated.
According to Bhargab Sarmah of the Hindustan Times, the Indian side defeated an Italian Lega Pro U17 representative team 2-0, but the Indian FA instead reported it was Italy’s U17 squad.
The Lega Pro side featured players from the third and fourth tier of Italian football, with the nation’s top players taking part in the UEFA Under-17 European Championship.
Per the report, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) made no mention of this fact, leading Indian football fans to believe their team had taken down one of the giants of European football. Tweets like this didn’t help:
Dance the night away! A historic feat as #India U17s defeat #Italy U17 2-0. A historic feat for all #Indians. #BackTheBlue pic.twitter.com/bfduCPOc49
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) May 19, 2017
Italy’s regular U-17 squad features top talents like Moise Kean and Roberto Biancu of Juventus, Gabriele Bellodi of AC Milan and a host of players from Inter Milan.
The players India faced came from clubs like Modena, Cremonese and Padova.
India will host the FIFA U-17 World Cup later this year. The team’s last international showing, at January’s Granatkin Cup in Russia, yielded just a single win in six matches.
Culled from bleacher report
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