Does not matter. In fact I would not mind the toughest group. Yes we would be facing group elimination BUT it would give the players a taste of playing true semi-professional u16 players. <div><br></div><div>Remember that the result does not matter really, what matters is the exposure the players are getting.</div>
Doesn't the seeding for the AFC U16 tournament seem whacky? A few examples:<br>1) Yemen beat Kuwait 2 - 1 and topped their group after finishing undefeated but Kuwait is in pot 2 and Yemen in pot 3.<br>2) Thailand won all 5 games including a 3 - 2 win against Australia but is in pot 4! Australia meanwhile, are in pot 1.<br>3) Iraq and Iran ended tied on points, but Iraq won their group on goal difference but is in pot 2, while Iran is in pot 1 (okay, they were basically tied and Iran is the host, this one I understand)<br>4) Oman and Syria were tied on points and Oman won the group on goal difference but is in pot 3 while Syria is in pot 2.<br><br>Technically, you could end up with a group like Uzbekistan, Japan,
Yemen, Thailand, where all of them were
group winners in the qualifiers!<br><br>Given these anomalies, I think the group that would be the most favorable for India is: Australia (2nd in their group), Kuwait/Syria (2nd in their group), Saudi Arabia (3rd place and only qualified because Afghanistan was disqualified for fielding an overage player) & India (2nd in our group). I think we would stand a good chance of finishing 2nd in such a group.<br><br>
<br><br><br>great observation and queries raised....Anyways May 10th 2012 we shall understand who will be the group teams, why not hope that India Goes through the group stage and given the boys some luck and grit maybe even a QF finish..Am excited to say that this U16 age group has lots of potential for India's hope for WC qualification.<br><br>We desperately need some good results from the lads to pumpp up everyone spirit that the direction indian youth football is taking is gaining traction.. just imagine population of 1 billion sure our talent spotters will come up with a few gems..<br>
<font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">Yes but dont expect so much. Just because most of them are IMG and whetever does not mean they will dominate. If we get a hard group and we dont make it out of the group then we should all be proud. Any experience against the big boys of u16 Asia is good and better than QF after an amateur group stage.</font>
<table class="contentpaneopen" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: silver; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Sans Serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><tbody><tr><td class="contentheading" width="100%" style="color: rgb(41, 60, 71); font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; "><a href="http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/afc-u16-championship/39078-stage-set-for-u-16-draw"; class="contentpagetitle" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(41, 60, 71); font-size: 10.5pt; ">Stage set for U-16 draw</a></td><td align="right" width="100%" class="buttonheading"><a href="http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/afc-u16-championship/39078-stage-set-for-u-16-draw?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page="; title="Print" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 204); "><img src="http://images.the-afc.com/article-buttons/printButton.png"; alt="Print" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; "></a></td><td align="right" width="100%" class="buttonheading"><a href="http://www.the-afc.com/en/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy50aGUtYWZjLmNvbS9lbi90b3VybmFtZW50cy9tZW4tYS15b3V0aC9hZmMtdTE2LWNoYW1waW9uc2hpcC8zOTA3OC1zdGFnZS1zZXQtZm9yLXUtMTYtZHJhdw==" title="E-mail" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 204); "><img src="http://images.the-afc.com/article-buttons/emailButton.png"; alt="E-mail" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; "></a></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="contentpaneopen" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: silver; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Sans Serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="createdate" style="font-size: 10px; color: rgb(170, 170, 170); ">Wednesday, 09 May 2012 15:07</td></tr><tr><td valign="top"><div class="easy_img_caption" style="background-color: rgb(242, 242, 242); width: 300px; float: left; margin-top: 7px; margin-right: 7px; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 7px; "><img title="DPR Korea (pic) were the champions in the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship whose draw for the 2012 edition will be conducted in host city Tehran, Iran, on May 10." src="http://images.the-afc.com/afc/comps/u16/2010/300x200/u16_dprk_champs_3x2.jpg"; width="300" height="200" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; "><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 8pt; text-align: center; padding-top: 4px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 8px; line-height: normal; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">DPR Korea (pic) were the champions in the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship whose draw for the 2012 edition will be conducted in host city Tehran, Iran, on May 10.</p></div><p>Tehran: The stage is set for more continental youth action with the draw for the AFC U-16 Championship 2012 to take place on Thursday in the host city of Tehran, Iran.</p><p>The 16 finalists have been classified on the basis of the final rankings of the AFC U-16 Championship 2010 and will be drawn into four pots of four teams each.<br><br>As hosts, IR Iran will be ranked number 1 and drawn into position A1. There will be four pots for the countries who will be positioned as per the current ranking.</p><p>Pot 1 will comprise Iran, DPR Korea, Uzbekistan and Australia. Japan, Syria, Iraq and Kuwait will be featured in Pot 2 while China, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen will make it into Pot 3. Korea Republic are in Pot 4 alongside Thailand, Laos and India.</p><p>The top two teams from each group (eight teams in total) will qualify for the knockout stage (quarterfinals) and the four winners of the quarterfinals will play in the semifinals and the winners advance to the final.</p><p><strong>Allocation of teams:</strong></p><table border="1" style="width: 452px; "><tbody><tr><td width="25%"><p style="text-align: center; "><strong>Pot 1</strong></p></td><td width="25%"><p style="text-align: center; "><strong>Pot 2</strong></p></td><td width="25%"><p style="text-align: center; "><strong>Pot 3</strong></p></td><td width="25%"><p style="text-align: center; "><strong>Pot 4</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Iran (host)</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Japan</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">China</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Thailand</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align: center; ">DPR Korea</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Syria</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Oman</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Laos</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Uzbekistan</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Iraq</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Saudi Arabia</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Korea Republic</p></td></tr><tr><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Australia</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Kuwait</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">Yemen</p></td><td><p style="text-align: center; ">India</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong>Rankings:</strong></p><table align="center" border="1" style="width: 452px; "><tbody><tr><td width="50%">1. IR Iran (Host)</td><td width="50%">9. China</td></tr><tr><td>2. DPR Korea</td><td>10. Oman</td></tr><tr><td>3. Uzbekistan</td><td>11. Saudi Arabia</td></tr><tr><td>4. Australia</td><td>12. Yemen</td></tr><tr><td>5. Japan</td><td>13. Thailnad</td></tr><tr><td>6. Syria</td><td>14. Laos</td></tr><tr><td>7. Iraq</td><td>15. Korea Republic</td></tr><tr><td>8. Kuwait</td><td>16. India</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><a href="http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/afc-u16-championship/39078-stage-set-for-u-16-draw">http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/afc-u16-championship/39078-stage-set-for-u-16-draw</a>;
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<font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">Hope for an easy route to Semi-Finals,reaching so important we'll get to play quality matches against top opponents</font>
C'mon the Gods of Luck..you have mistreated us on many occasions. Please have mercy this time. Forgive AIFF officials for they did not know what they were NOT doing :!!
Comments
i guess previous tournaments results also taken into account for seeding of teams
<br><br><br>great observation and queries raised....Anyways May 10th 2012 we shall understand who will be the group teams, why not hope that India Goes through the group stage and given the boys some luck and grit maybe even a QF finish..Am excited to say that this U16 age group has lots of potential for India's hope for WC qualification.<br><br>We desperately need some good results from the lads to pumpp up everyone spirit that the direction indian youth football is taking is gaining traction.. just imagine population of 1 billion sure our talent spotters will come up with a few gems..<br>
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