Going into the Asian Football Confederation Under-16 Championships in Goa, coach Nicolai Adam believed, and rightly so, that the Indian team had qualified for the tournament on merit. Despite being hosts, Adam’s boys had qualified by virtue of being the third-best runners-up in the qualifying tournament.
Adam wanted his boys, the India U-16s, to show that this was no flash in the pan and qualify for next year’s U-17 World Cup on merit. That would mean a top four or a semi-final finish in the ongoing AFC tournament.
The young blues, however, managed to garner a single point from their three outings, a 3-3 draw against Saudi Arabia sandwiched between a 2-3 loss against UAE and a 3-0 defeat to Iran. They finished last in their group, and did not qualify for the next stages.
The macro-picture of India’s participation at the tournament might not make for pleasant reading, but a deeper look reveals that the team is moving in the right direction. Most importantly, the mindset about Indian football finally seems to be bullish with a year to go for the most important tournament to be played on Indian soil yet; 5,892 fans turned up at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda to cheer these youngsters on.
A positive intent
Despite the loss, the style of play that has infused into these young guns was heart-warming and refreshing to watch. This team loves to attack, as was known even before the tournament, as the young colts pumped 11 goals past Bahrain and Lebanon in two qualifying matches.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this Indian team, like its predecessors, would play the hopeful long ball, looking to pick out the farthest man forward. If you had watched the tournament, there was a pleasant surprise in store for long-time viewers of Indian football: these boys were polished ball players, kept the ball on the deck and passed it around starting from the back.
If anything, the team were guilty of not being more cut-throat, playing very unselfishly – perhaps a bit too unselfish for their own good and trying to pass each ball into the goal, a la Arsenal. It’s important to remember that the rain and the wet pitches did not aid their passing play, hampered it and the sight of the front four galloping forward at the slightest chance of attack, despite the pitches, was a joy to behold.
Minor and correctable deficiencies
There is an excellent sense of chemistry instilled in this team by its German coach and there is a feeling that there is more to come from them, especially from their very highly rated forward man Aman Chetri. Chetri and No. 10 Komal Thatal seemed to be in sync during the first half of the UAE and Saudi Arabia matches.
With the wingers Aniket Jadhav and Sanjeev Stalin exploiting spaces behind opposition defences, the attack really turned the screws on the opposition teams in the first half. These first-half exertions drained the boys out, who played with the freedom of youth but failed to provide the same energy in the second halves of matches.
All three of their opponents, all more physical than the Indians, exploited this to the fullest as five of the nine goals that India conceded at the tournament came in the last 20 minutes of the matches. Sometimes, it is important to remember that football is a game of two halves and that pragmatism is an approach worth considering while in the lead. In their opening two matches, India took the lead only to throw it away due to a combination of lapses in concentration and defensive mix-ups. Against Saudi Arabia, the young Blues held the lead for 76 minutes before throwing it away at the death.
Dheeraj Singh Moirangtem, a fine, lanky keeper in his own right, has to be more expressive with his defenders so that they don’t flag off at the end of the match. The defence must keep its shape in the latter stages of matches to try and see the 90 minutes out, unlike the match against Iran where they gave away two penalties in the last 10 minutes.
At 15, the young Tigers are yet to develop completely and may be more equipped to deal with the physical prowess of their opponents by the time the World Cup comes around next year.
It would have been a disaster if the players were incapable of playing good, technical football. But this Indian team has other problems – concentration, energy conservation and physicality – which can be rectified with the passage of time.
Just the beginning
Four players who were not present in Goa – Abhijit Sarkar, Tamal Naskar, A Hendry and Joysana Singh had all been ineligible because of tournament guidelines, which state that any player born between January 1, 2000, and September 1, 2000, will not be eligible, unless they were registered for last year's AFC Under-16 qualifiers – will be added to the squad. Sarkar in particular, had been singled out for praise by Adam as “our talented No. 10.”
Reamsochung Aimol, who broke his foot during the team’s pre-season tour of Germany, will also be back in the team as will be the four mentioned above.
The captain, Suresh Singh Wangjam, is composure personified and coolly stepped up to slot a penalty in the dying moments of the Saudi Arabia game and earn India a point. With his wide range of passing, Wangjam looks to be a real gem of a find in midfield.
Boris, who can play on either wing as a marauding attacker or a deep-lying wing-back did get sent off in the final game against Iran but appears to be an excellent dribbler on the ball. His versatility will come in handy for the India U-16’.
With so much talent on offer, this team can only go from strength to strength provided the necessary backing. It is important that the All India Football Federation not pull the plug on this project, and instead allow it to continue beyond next year’s World Cup.
These boys have shown that they deserve the support, but now it is up to the AIFF, sponsors and the media to ensure that they are ably backed all the way to next year’s World Cup and beyond.