Full-Time: India U16 secure a 3-1 win over Singapore U17 in the Jockey Youth Cup Tournament with Rohit Danu scoring a brace and Ridge Melvin getting the other one.
I’d be glad if they played more physical teams from West Asia like UAE, Saudi etc. Iraq wall all over this team in U 16 AFC qualifiers and India couldn’t string more than three passes in the entire match. They just somehow managed to hold them to an unconvincing draw. Since that tournament India U16 has played mostly Asian club age teams and lower ranked national teams. Real test would be their friendlies against good clubs and countries in Europe tour.
Apart from this India U 23 will also play in the Asian Games this year. Wonder what AIFF has planned for them. Going by AIFF’s past record, probables will be called for camp one month before the event and they could play one or two friendlies with Nepal or Bhutan. While ideally the best U 23 lads from ISL, IL and IL-2 should be called just after the Super Cup and IL2 gets over and they should get 2-3 friendlies against SE Asian or West Asian teams. But it’s too much to ask for from AIFF.
@trojan ..You mean to say our draw against Iraq U16 was just luck ?? Unfortunately I didn't watch a single game of this U16 squad. What I was heard and told to believe is that this batch is more skillfull than our U17 WC squad. Until and unless we see this team playing against a quality opposition we can't conclude. Till this date Iraq U16 was the only real opponent that we faced ,If that draw was just a fluke then this batch is also no different. I reckon Aspire academy is a strong team and we beat them twice which is impressive . Still I am not sure whether we played against their main team of U17 category. So better not to take that matches in to consideration. Our litmus test will be the next Tournament in Europe , only if we get thru the preliminary round and get a chance to play against the U17 teams from top European clubs.
Dear @shibier Not taking anything away from our team who qualified on merit for the Asia Cup, but they sure were lucky to qualify when teams like Saudi which won 3 out of 4 matches played and China which won 2 out of 3 could not due to different number of teams in each group and the format of qualification of 6 second best teams. Remember India won just 1 out of the 3 games played and drew against a lowly Nepal. So we should be realistic and not pin our hopes too high.
This team is not much different from the previous batch. If you saw that batch play in the Granatkin Cup against Iran, you’d see how beautifully they played and matched Iran in every aspect. Almost same Iran team played the U 17 WC and performed well while India could not. So a lot depends on what kind of coaching and training they get. At the U16 level India should first match likes of China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc We are still much behind Japan, SoKo.
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Apart from this India U 23 will also play in the Asian Games this year. Wonder what AIFF has planned for them. Going by AIFF’s past record, probables will be called for camp one month before the event and they could play one or two friendlies with Nepal or Bhutan. While ideally the best U 23 lads from ISL, IL and IL-2 should be called just after the Super Cup and IL2 gets over and they should get 2-3 friendlies against SE Asian or West Asian teams. But it’s too much to ask for from AIFF.
This team is not much different from the previous batch. If you saw that batch play in the Granatkin Cup against Iran, you’d see how beautifully they played and matched Iran in every aspect. Almost same Iran team played the U 17 WC and performed well while India could not. So a lot depends on what kind of coaching and training they get. At the U16 level India should first match likes of China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc We are still much behind Japan, SoKo.