After defeating Vietnam U-16 1-0 to kick-off its AFC U-16 Championship campaign, the Indian national U-16 team “still has work to do”, believes head coach Bibiano Fernandes .
“We have toiled hard to get the result against Vietnam. It has been a long journey to build this team. Still there are a few tweaks to be done and we should not be overconfident of ourselves in the attempt,” Bibiano said.
“We dominated the entire match and could have won by a fancier scoreline but we missed our chances in front of the net. That is something we will focus upon and try to increase our conversion rate.”
“The credit goes to the players for attacking incessantly and finding the win,” he added.
India U-16 had as many as four clear goal scoring chances and it almost felt the Colts would score whenever the ball reached the final third. In the 83rd minute, skipper Vikram Singh’s run awarded India a penalty which was converted handing India three vital points.
READ: Late goal gives Indian U16 boys a win against Vietnam
“We came here to get a win and we got the win. That is what matters. I am happy with the team’s performance and this team has a lot of potential to go a long way. But we are taking one match at a time and will focus on our next opponents,” Bibiano informed.
Skipper Vikram Singh said, “We have full confidence in our abilities as a team. We did miss chances but eventually we got the job done and that is of great importance – to get a win in our first match itself.”
Meanwhile, defender Shabas Ahaamed said, “We had to toil the entire match and Vietnam were quick on counter-attacks. We had to defend with extreme poise and played compact to nullify the threat.”
With this win the Indian U-16 team is ranked second in Group C behind leader Indonesia and faces Iran next on Monday.
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