India look to begin SAFF U-17 Championship on positive note against Bhutan

NEW DELHI: The India U-17 boys shall be trying to kick begin their SAFF U-17 Championship 2022 marketing campaign on a constructive notice in Sri Lanka, as they face Bhutan of their first match on the Racecourse Worldwide Stadium in Colombo, on Monday, September 5, 2022.

Talking on the eve of the match, India head coach Bibiano Fernandes confirmed numerous respect for India’s opponents within the first match, stating the significance of beginning with a win.

“Bhutan are a superb aspect, and we respect them rather a lot. Our earlier batches have had some good moments towards them, however this can be a utterly new batch, and we begin from sq. one. So we shall be trying to put our greatest foot ahead tomorrow and begin our marketing campaign with a win,” mentioned Fernandes on the pre-match press convention.

Bibiano, who has been the top coach of this age class (beforehand the U-16s), has helped his sides qualify for the AFC U-16 Championship (now often called the AFC U-17 Asian Cup) within the 2018 and 2020 editions. Whereas the Blue Colts got here inside one step of qualifying for the U-17 World Cup after they made it to the quarterfinals in 2018, will probably be a brand new problem for the present batch.

“We’re right here clearly with the expectation to win the championship, as at all times, although now we have include a very new set of gamers. The final two years have been a tough time for everybody, as we couldn’t get any worldwide publicity as a result of pandemic,” mentioned Fernandes.

“Nevertheless, that has been the case for everybody as properly, and this comes with a brand new set of challenges. We all know the likes of Nepal and Bhutan are good groups, so each match shall be essential for us. We’ll take it one recreation at a time.”

India have been clubbed in Group B alongside Bhutan and Nepal, they usually get their marketing campaign towards the previous on the Racecourse Worldwide Stadium on Monday, September 5 at 4 PM IST. The match shall be streamed reside on the Eleven Sports activities platforms.