Quarter-final target for India under-17 in Asian finals

Bibiano Fernandes was emphatic. “Yes, of course,” he said when asked if the quarter-final was a target for India in the Asian under-17 championships which began in Thailand on Thursday. “But we are focusing on the first game against Vietnam.”

India start on Saturday, play Uzbekistan on June 20 and Japan three days later. India’s group games will be in Pathum Thani, nearly 60km from Bangkok.

Fernandes spoke with the confidence of a head coach who has been there. In 2018, the last time the teens’ competition was held – Covid-19 forced cancellation of the 2020 edition – Fernandes’ team was among the top eight in Asia. India drew goalless with China and Iran and beat Vietnam 1-0 through a Vikram Pratap Singh penalty before losing 0-1 to South Korea. The only other time India had gone that far was in 2002 where again they were eliminated by South Korea.

If India walk their head coach’s talk this time, they would be a win away from qualifying for the under-17 World Cup, to be played between November 10 and December 2. The host country has not been decided after FIFA removed Peru as host last April for its inability “to fulfill its commitments to completing the infrastructure required to stage the tournament.”

Uzbekistan beat South Korea in the qualifiers, Vietnam kept a clean sheet on way to the finals and Japan are defending champions but at this level, reputations matter the least. You never know what generation of players will break through, said Fernandes. “We have been following Uzbekistan, Japan and Vietnam. If we look at our results in Europe, that gives us confidence, motivation and self-belief. We are not an easy team,” Fernandes said while speaking on Hindustan Times’ football podcast Kicks For Free.

Including games against Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and FC Augsburg, India played 10 friendlies in Spain and Germany in April and May. They beat Atletico Madrid’s under-16 side 2-1 but lost to their under-17s 1-4. India drew 3-3 against Real Madrid’s under-17 team and beat FC Augsburg 3-1.

Fernando Torres, now Atletico Madrid’s under-19 head coach, dropped in for a training session in Madrid. It was some moment for the boys and for us in the coaching staff, said Fernandes.

Preparations for this tournament began in February 2022, said Fernandes, a former senior international who has been associated with India youth teams for over six years. With no youth leagues in a Covid-swept world, players were chosen after open trials at different state units, he said. “The plan was to get the core team ready by May.” That done, India won the SAFF under-17 championships and began readying for the Asian qualifiers in Saudi Arabia. India qualified for the finals finishing second behind Saudi Arabia.

Considering that they had hardly played any games and did not have enough game management skills, the boys deserve credit, said Fernandes. When the youth league resumed in 2021-22, Fernandes chose 10 players who are in Thailand but were not part of the SAFF or the qualifiers. To compensate for their lack of tournament play, Fernandes said training sessions were “match-like” and each game in Europe played “with a target. The Augsburg game was our quarter-final.”

The squad has players from all over India but 10 of the 23, including skipper Korou Singh, are from Manipur. One of them, Thanglalsoun Gangte, had a relative killed in the ethnic violence. “We have been talking to them and, as of now, their families are safe,” said Fernandes. The head coach said the staff are reminding the players of what they achieved, the work put in over the past 16 months, most of them spent training in Goa. “Now we are so close, we can’t let it go.”

Unless India make history, the squad will be disbanded after the finals. Making the under-19 side would be natural progression but lack of games thereafter has often hindered their development. “The first thing they want is to get in ISL. Which I think is not a good idea,” said Fernandes. His advice: join a club in I-League, even in second division and get competitive games. “They should invest in getting playing time and not just sign for a club,” he said.

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