With the upcoming AFC U-16 Finals in September at Malaysia in the sight, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has decided to provide the young players with a proper and a long nine-month extensive exposure programme. The AIFF is planning to do so in order to prepare the young side to compete at their very best against the top sides of the tournament.
Thanking the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for their support, the AIFF General Secretary Mr. Kushal Das said: “I am extremely grateful to the SAI for supporting the exposure trips. We had chalked out a fool-proof plan and presented it to them after which they discussed and gave us a green signal.”
“The All India Football Federation understands the importance of building the next generation of Indian Football and after a heart-warming display of the U-17 National Team in the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, we are hopeful the exposure tours will benefit the U-16 boys and make them more competitive in their quest to qualify for the next edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup,” he added.
This is the second successive time that the Indian U-16 team has made it to the finals of the AFC U-16 Championship and seventh time overall. The boys achieved it in Nepal last year, qualifying as one of the best second placed teams where they held mighty defending champions Iraq to a goalless draw.
Besides Dubai, where the team is presently playing a series of friendly matches, the team, being coached by Bibiano Fernandes, will be travelling to Qatar, Japan, South Africa and Spain amongst others. The team is also slated to play in some tournaments to help the boys test their skills ahead of the acid test in September.
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