SAFF U-15 Championship: India to kickstart title defence against Pakistan

Defending champion India is clubbed with Bhutan and Pakistan in Group B and two teams from the group will advance to the semifinals.

Ahead of the SAFF sojourn, the colts had plied their trade in the 2018 Jinshan International Youth Football Championship in Shanghai in August this year.

Before the U-15 Colts kick-start their campaign to retain the SAFF U-15 Championship title against arch-rival Pakistan at the ANFA Complex in Kathmandu on Thursday, coach Subhendu Panda stated that a match against Pakistan "is always special."

"A clash against Pakistan match is always extra competitive. The boys are ready to face the challenge."

Defending champion India is clubbed with Bhutan and Pakistan in Group B and two teams from the group will advance to the semifinals.

Ahead of the SAFF sojourn, the colts had plied their trade in the 2018 Jinshan International Youth Football Championship in Shanghai in August this year. The coach mentioned that their primary focus is to find the solutions to the problems that they faced in China.

Panda added, "We are looking forward to solving the problems as much as we could which we had during our last International exposure tour to China. Additionally, our focus during the entire camp before the SAFF Championship has been to develop the communication within the team and adapt to our own playing style."

"As we are preparing for a long-term development of players, we are looking forward to this competition as an opportunity to test ourselves and prepare accordingly for future."