By Sahil Kohli
Fukuoka [Japan], July 14 : Indian men's football club sides, Punjab FC and Bengaluru FC, started off the action at the ongoing Reliance Foundation Development Tour (RFDL) exposure tour to Japan with wins at Fukuoka on Tuesday, while FC Goa saw defeat in their opening game.
RFDL exposure tour to Japan is from July 11-23, under which the top three Indian clubs from the RFDL season 2025-26 are competing against their top-level J-League counterparts. Bengaluru FC, FC Goa and Punjab FC, who occupied top three positions, are representing the nation's flag in Japan.
- Punjab FC dominates Avispa Fukuoka
In a show of total dominance at attacking and defensive aspects, Punjab FC defeated Avispa Fukuoka 5-0. The attack went all guns blazing from the opening whistle, with Singamayum Shami netting an early brace (3', 28') to set the tone for a goal-fest. With a strike from Omang Dodum (42'), India was in the driver's seat at half-time with a 3-0 lead.
Ngarin Shaiza (55') extended the lead before Vishal Yadav put the final blow in stoppage time (90+2').
Following the match, Shami, one of his team's heroes, while speaking to ANI, expressed gratitude to God for his brace and expressed happiness with his performance. Playing under the sun at Fukuoka's Global Arena venue, he talked of the play during the match.
"The team is playing well. I scored. God gave me two goals. The first half was too hot," he said.

Shami, who won the U19 South Asia Football Federation (SAFF) title for India last year as a captain, reflected on his historic feat.
"I still feel a proud moment for India and for me. I still cherish it in my heart."
Coming from a small village in Manipur, the midfielder's idol is Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Reflecting on his short but promising journey so far, Shami said that hard work and belief make everything possible.
"My idol is Cristiano Ronaldo. I came from a small village from Manipur. I joined Punjab FC in 2018 when I was 13 years old. The journey has been long...if you believe and work hard, everything is possible," he noted.
On RFDL's role in the development of Indian grassroots football, he said, "RFDL has helped a lot in the growth of Indian youth football players."
Nitin Pant, the General Manager of Punjab FC, also thanked RFDL for the tour and spoke on the importance of this trip to Japan.
"This tour will help them develop as players and they also get a taste of international football".

Nitin also highlighted his team's grassroots programme, which starts right from villages and is aimed at expansion.
"Our programme is multi-layered. We have our village-level sports centres where we have kids from under 8 till under 16. Then we have development centres. Right now, we have 31 centres across Punjab. We have around 1500 plus kids. And also we have the vision to increase it to 75 in the coming years," he said.
He also said that the club wants its youth players to not only make it to senior club football with Punjab FC, but also don the national colours.
-A resilient Bengaluru FC emerges victorious in a five-goal thriller
Bengaluru FC showed incredible resilience and courage during their hard-fought 3-2 victory against Giravanz Kitakyushu. After trailing courtesy of a 40th-minute strike by Ryunosuke Imai, Bengaluru clawed their way back in the second half.
Rakshit Rakshit Priya Anil levelled the scores in the 61st minute and a self-goal from their Japanese opponents gave Bengaluru FC a lead in 69th minute.
Then came another blow from Serto Worneilen Kom in 75th minute. A relentless team defensive effort in the dying minutes--despite a 90th-minute goal from Md Arbash--ensured Bengaluru walked away with maximum points.
After the match, Bengaluru FC youth head coach and former Indian player Renedy Singh told ANI that the game was tough, with their Japanese counterparts showing technical ability.
"It was a tough match for us, playing away with this level. As we all know, every Japanese side, how they are playing at the world level....And even for a club side, for an under-18 side, they are well organized, tactically very sound. And in the first half, we started pressing well. But 20-25 minutes, that's where we loosened a little bit. And that's when we started pressing the wrong players. And so, tactically, we had to change a bit," said Renedy.

He also noted how his team hit the goalpost twice, but could not convert those chancest. Referring to a strong second-half show, he said that his side will analyse and get better for the next challenge.
"In the second half, we had to come back with a stronger force. And we had to manage to get away, to get a win from this game. The second match will be tougher, I guess. So, we will have two days of rest. We will analyze and get better in the second match," he said.
"But yes, our players, like I said, a lot of players, under-18 and under-19 players, they are playing this type of side after a long time. Of course, yes, they have played against Bangladesh, against Nepal, and all those teams. But to play with the side of this level, I think it takes... And they will only get better once they get more matches," he added.
Renedy vowed that his team will keep working to get better. On acclimatisation in Japan, he said that it was only by the second half that things started looking good for his side.
"Even when we trained yesterday, it was not our best training because we had travelled for two days. And then we have got only one day of training. I was also a player for a long time, and I know to acclimatise, it takes time. But then we have to adapt. That cannot be the excuse," he said.
"Yes, it was tough. In the first half, it was really tough. We played at 4 o'clock and it was quite hot. But then again, no excuse. We have to adapt, and we have to get on, and we have to work and get better. And I am sure the second half, that is why it was much better. And in the coming days, I think we will be more organized, and it will be a better game," he signed off.