New Delhi, October 3
There is no time for celebrations for the Indian men's U17 team. After their successful title defence of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) U17 Championship in Bhutan on Monday, the Blue Colts are back in Srinagar and already on the training pitch preparing for the all-important AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers to be held in Thailand from October 23 to 27.
The players' moment of basking in the glory was limited to the Changlimithang Stadium as they waved the tricolour and chanted with a thousand-odd Indian fans after the full-time whistle, and got their pictures clicked with the trophy, with DJ Bravo's 'Champion' being blasted on the loudspeaker, as per a press release from All India Football Federation (AIFF).
"We returned to Srinagar on Tuesday evening, had a rest day on Wednesday and a recovery session on Thursday morning before returning to our normal training routine," said head coach Ishfaq Ahmed, who has won back-to-back SAFF titles with the same batch. 16 out of the 23 players were part of his SAFF U16 Championship winning squad last year in Bhutan as well.
"It is not easy to repeat success and I have been putting a lot of emphasis on that. If you want to be a good football team, you always have to be consistent and do better than last time. I think we did quite well. Our opponents had also improved from last year. But, we still need to work a lot more ahead of the Asian Cup qualifiers," he added.
The SAFF U17 Championship, for which the Blue Colts had been training since July in Srinagar, was seen as the first hurdle of what could be some hugely significant next few months for them. India are pitted against Brunei Darussalam, Turkmenistan and hosts Thailand in Group D of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, where the group winners and five best runners-up among all 10 groups will qualify for the final tournament in Saudi Arabia in April next year. The AFC U17 Asian Cup 2025 will also act as the qualification tournament for the newly-expanded 48-team FIFA U17 World Cup Qatar 2025.
The only way is upwards for Ishfaq Ahmed's boys. The former India international is delighted with the winning habit his team has created but also knows that the hurdles will keep getting higher as they enter deeper into the realm of international football. Ahmed singled out what he was impressed with in Bhutan and what he wants to improve.
"Honestly, I was happy with the way we were organised defensively. But I was disappointed with the Nepal match (4-2 win in the semi-final), where we lost concentration and conceded two quick goals, which I feel went against our character. We had been very disciplined in every match," said the coach.
"We need to concentrate on attacking and defending set pieces, and pay attention on counter-attacks. Players are told their job in every situation and they need to do that. We need to be better at finishing. Teams make it difficult for us by sitting back. But the good thing is that we created a lot of chances and were able to score in every match," he said.
The focus shifts to Brunei (October 23), Turkmenistan (October 25) and Thailand (October 27) now. Ahmed said that the boys have also taken learnings from the India U20s who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the AFC U20 Asian Cup last week due to an inferior goal difference, and understand the importance of converting as many chances as they can so that they don't end up in regret.
"I am very sure that we will create many chances (in the qualifiers), but we have to be more lethal in front of the goal. We have a big example of the under-20s in front of us. We have to go all out in every game. The last one against Thailand will be the toughest one," said Ahmed.
"Of course, we are preparing for all three opponents, but the first match is the first hurdle as of now. It will be crucial because it will set the bar and tone for the rest of the two matches for us," Ahmed concluded.