Coach: India is Confident and Prepared for the AFC U-17 Qualifying Campaign
Guwahati: The opening game of Group D’s AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers will be played on October 4 at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Sports City Stadium in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, between the assured India U-17 Men’s National Team and the Maldives.
Kuwait and the host nation Saudi Arabia both defeated the Maldives and Myanmar to start the Group D campaign. Both games were decided by scores of 6-0 in favour of the winners. Head coach of India Bibiano Fernandes believes his team is optimistic going into their opening match of the qualifiers.
“We are confident that we can put out good performances in these qualifiers. It is a completely new batch of our course, and these boys have not had as much exposure as the last two batches due to COVID, but they are still a bunch of talented boys who have come a long way since we began the camp in February,” said Fernandes.
Although the Maldives lost their opening game 0-6 to Kuwait, Fernandes believes that his team will start from scratch against them and that they will need to be cautious.
“Maldives were present in both yesterday’s game and the SAFF U-17 Championship in Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that they lost badly, playing against a team who recently experienced a result like that might be challenging. Such outcomes frequently jolt the players into action, therefore we must be vigilant against them “he said.
Despite this, the head coach has complete faith in his team to perform as expected.
“We have enough quality players to get the three points, and that is what we always set out to do – no matter the opposition. It’s the three points that matter the most at the end of the day, and that is what we are after,” said Fernandes.
Ahmad Shareef, the head coach of the Maldives, believes that his team’s development, not its performance, is what matters most.
“I’d like to thank the organisers for hosting us in these qualifiers. I am sure everyone has worked hard, as have our players. Our preparations may not have been as extensive as we would have liked, but the main focus for us is to get these boys ready for the next level. For us, the development aspect is very important, and these matches are crucial for that,” said Shareef.
The start time for India’s game versus the Maldives is on Tuesday, October 4, at midnight IST. The AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers will feature a total of 43 teams split among 10 groups. The six best teams that finished in second place will also compete in 2023 along with the 10 group winners who have already secured their places.
Group D contains five teams, so since Group H only has three teams, the points and goals (both scored and allowed) against the fourth and fifth-placed teams will not be taken into account when determining the six best second-place teams among the 10 groups.