India U23 side suffers narrow defeat against Iraq in preparatory friendly

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 25 (PTI) The Indian U23 men's football team lost 1-2 against Iraq U23 in a closed-door friendly match at the UM Arena Stadium here on Monday.

Mohammed Sanan scored the only goal for the Blue Colts in the 39th minute after Dhulfiqar Younus had handed Iraq the lead in the 36th. The majority of the match was evenly contested before Mustafa Nawaf Zai scored the winner for Iraq in the 72nd minute.

India will play another closed-door friendly against Iraq on August 28 in the Malaysian capital.

Coached by Naushad Moosa, India are preparing for the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers to be held from September 3-9 in Doha, where the Blue Colts will face Bahrain (September 3), hosts Qatar (September 6), and Brunei Darussalam (September 9). PTI AH AT AT