The team that played Saudi Arabia and that played Yemen and Turkmenistan were different. We dropped Ashish Rai, Sahil Panwal, and Roshan Singh from the team and replaced them with Boris Singh, Jitendra Singh, and Sanjeev Stalin. We also dropped Rahul KP, Jeakson Singh, and Princeton Rebello and replaced them with Suresh Singh, Amarjit Singh, and Namgyal Bhutia.
Makes you think really... especially since the replacements were from the U17 World Cup while the guys replaced were from the previous U19 squad (besides Rahul and Jeakson).
Again I re-iterate, it also makes us think of Matos's strategy. I always believed these U-17 guys had a bit more than what they have delivered, even considering the world cup. We have also dropped other talented individuals from this core group, who certainly have something in them to prove.
So pretty much if we don't get to host the U20 World Cup, this expected "golden' generation will go to waste since they won't play in the World Cup or AFC Championship... what will they play in? I-League only? Yikes.
At senior level, they will help India qualify for AFC Asia Cup in future. With 24 berths India will feature in future editions. In age group, only 16 berths, it is difficult to qualify for Asia events.
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Makes you think really... especially since the replacements were from the U17 World Cup while the guys replaced were from the previous U19 squad (besides Rahul and Jeakson).