The Blue Colts finished with six points from their three matches, and had to wait a nerve-wracking end to the remaining Group H match between Qatar and Bahrain at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, which the hosts won 2-1, having come back from a goal down to score two injury-time goals.

Qatar finished top of the group with a perfect record (nine points from three matches), while India ended up second with six points. While the four best second-placed teams (from 11 groups) also qualified, India finished the campaign at number five amongst the group runner-ups.

Midfielder Vibin Mohanan (5’, 7’, 62’) scored a hat-trick, and Mohammed Aimen (87’, 90+7’) netted two, while Ayush Chhetri (41’) got one to his name.

India started with a bang when Muhammed Suhail weaved into the box and cut it back for Vibin, who rode a tackle, before finishing it from close range to give his side the lead in the fifth minute.

The midfielder scored again a couple of minutes later, when his attempted aerial through ball bounced over the Brunei goalkeeper’s head and looped into the net.

The Blue Colts kept plugging in at the Brunei defence, but were either thwarted or missed their chances. Moosa decided to introduce centre forward Parthib Gogoi into the fray in the 32nd minute itself, in order to give his side more of an attacking edge.

Midfielder Vibin Mohanan (5’, 7’, 62’) scored a hat-trick, and Mohammed Aimen (87’, 90+7’) netted two, while Ayush Chhetri (41’) got one to his name.

India started with a bang when Muhammed Suhail weaved into the box and cut it back for Vibin, who rode a tackle, before finishing it from close range to give his side the lead in the fifth minute.

The midfielder scored again a couple of minutes later, when his attempted aerial through ball bounced over the Brunei goalkeeper’s head and looped into the net.

The Blue Colts kept plugging in at the Brunei defence, but were either thwarted or missed their chances. Moosa decided to introduce centre forward Parthib Gogoi into the fray in the 32nd minute itself, in order to give his side more of an attacking edge.

Harijan had a couple of close chances when he made smart runs between the lines. On the first occasion, he had just the goalkeeper to beat, but was tackled by Brunei defender Irfan Abdullah, while on the second, his first-time shot off a Vibin cross went inches wide of an open goal.

Aimen was knocking at the Brunei goalmouth as well, and sent his powerful shot in the 83rd minute crashing into the upright. Harijan thought he had scored a minute later, when he tapped in an Aimen cross, but was flagged offside.

Aimen added two more superb goals to make it six, both long rangers in the dying embers of the game, to make it 6-0 for the Blue Colts.

India U23: Sahil (GK), Bikash Yumnam, Lalrinliana Hnamte, Muhammed Saheef, Vibin Mohanan, Mohammed Sanan (Parthib Gogoi 32′), Harsh Palande, Ayush Chhetri (Macarton Louis Nickson 58′), Muhammed Suhail (Mohammed Aimen 58′), Sreekuttan MS (Sahil Harijan 58′), Ricky Meetei Haobam (Soham Varshneya 76′).

Credits: AIFF Media

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Incidentally, both of the Group E encounters ended in a similar fashion on the night. Oman got the better of Kyrgyz Republic thanks to a late penalty like the hosts UAE, who pipped India owing to an 82nd-minute spot-kick by Abdulla Idrees.

Igor Stimac made only one change to the team that got a 2-1 win against Oman in their previous game, having brought in Lalengmawia at the expense of Aniket Jadhav to make the midfield more compact against UAE. The hosts went 1-2 down against the Kyrgyz Republic in their first outing of the qualifying campaign, three days back.

Both the teams started with a safety-first approach before Rahim Ali squeezed in to make room for himself in the six-yard-box, but before he could connect to the long throw-in by Asish, UAE goalkeeper Suhail Abdulla Almutawa collected the ball calmly.

Before the clock struck the half-hour mark, India launched back-to-back attacks but the opponents dealt with them to cut the scorer out of the equation.

Suresh, who led the team for the second match in a row, lobbed a ball to Rahul KP, but Abdulla Idrees managed to clear it. Vikram Partap tried to get a shot off on the rebound, but Saeed Sulaiman blocked his attempt.

Three minutes past the half-hour mark, Dheeraj came to the rescue act, having blocked a dangerous attack from Rashed Salem Mubarak from handshaking distance. Mohammad Abbas passed it to Sultan Adeel and before anyone could notice, Rashed made a darting run from the right. Dheeraj anticipated it superbly and denied the hosts.

Rahul got himself onto the end of a cross from the right by Asish, and tapped it in past the keeper, but his celebrations were cut short after referee Fu Ming adjudged Rahim Ali, who had alledgedly touched to ball on the way, to be off-side. With that, the two teams headed into the tunnel level on scores at the lemon break.

The hosts, who were tottering at the bottom of the table, re-joined with more vigour and they took only four minutes to launch their first attack in the second half.

Marwan Fahad leapt above others to convert a long throw-in from Abbas but Dheeraj came to the rescue act once again in the 49th minute.

Abdullah Sultan Alblooshi could have made his presence count with his first contribution after coming off the bench but the substitute’s header missed the target by an inch or two to leave the Indian defenders much relieved in the 60th minute.

As Al Saleh got blocked by Dheeraj, UAE shouted for a penalty but the referee didn’t pay any attention to the appeal. Sultan took a steering header to the farthest post but missed the target.

The hosts kept on pushing the Indian defenders vigorously in search of the opening goal. Seven minutes later, Majid Rashid, the centre-forward, tried his luck from an acute angle but Dheeraj thwarted his effort. Their frustration increased further as Dheeraj made a spectacular finger-tip save in the 75th minute.

As UAE were mounting more pressure on the Indian defenders, Stimac introduced Sumit Rathi, Amarjit Singh and Princeton Rebello into the fray.

Ten minutes to the end of the regulation time, the hosts earned a penalty as Suresh brought Ali Saleh down inside the box. Defender Abdulla Idrees broke the deadlock from the spot-kick to hand UAE a crucial lead in the 82nd minute.

Suresh looked for the perfect atonement three minutes later as he picked up a stray ball on the edge of the opposition area, but his shot from outside the box went over the cross-bar. Stimac threw in Rohit Danu and Aniket Jadhav towards the end but the UAE defenders held their nerves to leave the ground with all three points.

Following the second match day, all the four teams are locked on three points each, with identical goal differences. The group topper will qualify for the finals in Uzbekistan next year, whereas four best runner-up nations will also join them. Hosts UAE will lock horns with Oman before India face-off with the Kyrgyz Republic at the same venue at 10 PM IST on Saturday (October 30, 2021).

India U-23 XI: Dheeraj Singh; Asish Rai (Princeton Rebello 76′), Narender Gahlot, Deepak Tangri, Akash Mishra; Vikram Partap Singh (Sumit Rathi 63′), Suresh Singh (Rohit Danu 87′), Lalengmawia (Amarjit Singh 76′), Jeakson Singh, Rahul KP; Rahim Ali (Aniket Jadhav 87′)

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“Absolutely not,” we are still juniors. “We are still U17 World Cup team members,” commented Suresh Singh. Lalengmawia nodded.

The duo has brought forward the professionalism and discipline of the Senior squad into the U23 contingent. Their current teammates, most of whom have been with them at the U17 World Cup team, and later on in the Indian Arrows never miss that chance to remind them about their seniority.

“The SAFF Championship in Maldives was a huge learning experience. Life for a footballer is not about what is being done on the field, but also off it, and a major part of that,” Lalengmawia expressed.

“We were not off to a good start, and there was disappointment all around. It was a do-or-die situation for us, everyone had written us off. That was from there when we turned the tables – all stuck together – the senior players, ourselves, the technical and support staff, and obviously the Coach,” Suresh stated.

“The team spirit, the togetherness, the self-belief helped us win it. We will carry the experience with us forever.”

The journey for all of them had started long back at the AIFF Academy project in Goa for the U17 World Cup. Life was never a bed of roses, especially staying away from the family at that tender age, not to forget the immense competition for slots even at that age. But the duo remembers each moment vividly.

“We were kids, not just the two of us — but the entire batch. All we wanted to do was to play football. We had looked around, and were looking for a platform to play, and continue playing. The sole platform was the Academy set-up in AIFF, and our journey began,” Lalengmawia, quipped.

“From there to here has been a dream,” Suresh added. “The exposure made us confident. And now it was a good start with the Senior Team to have won the SAFF. I even went on to score in the final,” Suresh’s face lit up.

“When I was a kid, or rather we all were kids, we used to assemble in front of the television to watch the Senior Team play. Sunil Chhetri was our idol along with Subrata Paul, Jeje Lalpekhlua and others. Now we have graduated to the Senior Team and it feels surreal to share the same dressing room with Sunil-bhai,” Rahim echoed.

“We had a dream – all of us. We still nurture that dream. We have achieved only a part of it and it motivates us to dream further, and beyond,” Dheeraj maintained. India play Oman in their first match of the Qualifiers of the AFC U23 Asian Cup on October 24 which will be followed by matches against UAE and Kyrgyz Republic respectively.

CREDITS- AIFF MEDIA

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India, who have been clubbed in Group E along with Oman, UAE and the Kyrgyz Republic, begin their campaign against Oman in their first match on October 24.

“Every country has talented youngsters, and U-23 players who are already playing at the senior level for their respective countries, and so do we. But we need to find the balance in this team,” Head Coach Igor Stimac stated.

“The good thing for us is that we already had a number of players from this bunch of players here who have been a part of the National Team, and are aware of what kind of weather is to be expected, and also the expectations from the fans,” he added. “Our aim is always the same – to go out and win every game. But it will depend on the approach we take depending on information about the strength of our opposition.”

From the current contingent, Suresh Singh, Lalengmawia Ralte, Rahim Ali, and Dheeraj Singh were part of the triumphant SAFF Championship squad, while Akash Mishra, Amrajit Singh, and Narender Gahlot have been part of the Blue Tigers under Stimac in the past.

“I’m quite attached to these guys. They are the players who are giving us extra energy on the bench. They are younger and it’s much easier to work with them. You need to understand as they are young, we can mould them as they learn fast,” the Coach expressed.

The U23 squad will be having their first practice session today (October 21).

India’s fixtures in the qualifying leg are as follows:

October 24: Oman vs India.
October 27: India vs UAE.
October 30: India vs Kyrgyz Republic.

The 23-member squad for the U23 Qualifiers is as follows:

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

DEFENDERS: Narender Gahlot, Alex Saji, Hormipam Ruivah, Asish Rai, Sumit Rathi, Akash Mishra.

MIDFIELDERS: Suresh Singh, Amarjit Singh, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Deepak Tangri, Rahul KP, Komal Thatal, Nikhil Raj, Bryce Miranda, Princeton Rebello.

FORWARDS: Vikram Partap Singh, Rahim Ali, Rohit Danu, Aniket Jadhav.

Head Coach: Igor Stimac.

CREDITS- AIFF MEDIA

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