With a huge 0-5 loss against Saudi Arabia and 0-0 draw with Yemen India U19s AFC qualifiers journey seemed to be on death bed as a win against Turks won’t be counted for being the fourth team in the group.

How do you reflect on India’s performance against Yemen?

It was a good performance against Yemen and it could have been perfect if we had got the win. We have to take our chances in the final third and score goals. We had three to four clear goal-scoring opportunities against Yemen and if we could have taken them we would have been deserved winners. We need to buckle up and be clinical in front of goal.

What was the strategy against Yemen?

We wanted to dominate Yemen in the midfield and we were able to achieve that. The players gave a good fight to the Yemen midfield and were also able to create goal scoring opportunities for our forwards. In defence, we stayed strong and played as a single unit which helped us to keep Yemen at bay.

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Turkmenistan lost 0-1 against Saudi Arabia. What are you expecting from Turkmenistan tomorrow?

Turkmenistan are an aggressive team going forward and they have lost both their matches so far. They will be playing for a win for their pride and we will be doing the same. We will be playing for a win and looking to end the qualifiers on a positive note. However, we still need to stay focused and concentrate on the pitch as Turkmenistan proved (with their 0-1 loss against Saudi Arabia) that they are not an easy team to play against. They will give us a very hard fight till the end.

How will you sum up India’s campaign so far?

We are building a team for the future and if you look, against Yemen, 9 U-17 players played and dominated at certain spells of the game. Imagine the potential that this team will have in the next two years. There is a long way to go, however, we need to believe that the results will not be visible immediately but will take some time to show. We need to believe in the process of developing players.

– Courtesy AIFF Media

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In an uninspiring performance, Indian colts looked totally out of place as they were completely outclassed by the host. One of the brightest spots of India U17 world team Dheeraj Singh had a forgettable night as silly defensive lapses gave the host a coasting win.

India started out slow as Saudi looked to take early advantage. Dheeraj was called into action as early as the 9th minute when he thwarted a Saudi attack from the flanks. A minute later, the hosts could have taken the lead but Saudi striker failed to find the net after rounding up Dheeraj.

The pressure soon got to India as they conceded the lead in a poor fashion. After collecting the ball at the edge of the box, Dheeraj quickly passed to Anwar Ali, who was easily robbed of the ball by Abdullah Alhamaddan, before slotting off the opener. Despite looking for equaliser with some good move, Saudi defence held on as half-time approached.

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However the second half started on a bad note as in the 50th minute, Saudi Arabia doubled their lead when Feras Albrikan rounded off Dheeraj Singh who was way off his line and scored to make it 2-0. The Indian U-19s attempted to pull one back with Coach Matos introducing Edmund and Amarjit Singh to spice up things, however nothing much transpired in the attacking front.

Soon the performance of the team went from bad to worse as Saudi scored again in the 75th minute to seal the match after Al-Shahrani blasted the ball into the net, capitalizing on mix-up inside the Indian box. Soon it became 4-0 after another defensive lapse allowed Al Brikan to score in the open goal. Five minutes later, Al Brikan made it 5-0 after a 2 on 1 situation against the Indian keeper.

India next face Yemen on November 06, 2017 before clashing with Turkmenistan on November 08.

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Luis Norton de Matos, Head Coach India U-19 National Team has summoned 29 probables for the preparatory camp being held in the Capital for the forthcoming AFC U-19 Qualifiers to be held in Saudi Arabia early next month.

India who have been clubbed with hosts Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Turkmenistan in Group D play their first match against Saudi Arabia on November 4 followed by matches against Yemen and Turkmenistan on November 6 and 8 respectively.

The probable list of 29 has players from the AIFF U-19 Academy as well as the Indian U-17 World Cup squad which played in the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

The contingent will be leaving Delhi on October 25 to Doha where they will be playing a practice match against Qatar U-19 National Team on October 28 before proceeding to Dammam, Saudi Arabia for the AFC U-19 Qualifiers.

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The list of 29 probables in the Camp stays as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Dheeraj Singh, Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Mohammad Nawaz.

DEFENDERS: Boris Singh, Jitendra Singh, Anwar Ali, Sanjeev Stalin, Sahil Panwar, Deepak Tangri, Amal Das, Namgyal Bhutia, Asish Rai.

MIDFIELDERS: Suresh Singh, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Amarjit Singh, Abhijit Sarkar, Lalengmawia, Komal Thatal, Jeakson Singh, Nongdamba Naorem, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Naorem Roshan Singh, Pranjal Bhumij, Abhishek Haldar, Princeton Rebello.

FORWARDS: Aniket Jadhav, Rahim Ali, Lalawampuia, Edmund Lalrindika.

– Courtesy AIFF media

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