Goa: Head coach Nicolai Adam wants his young charges to show they belong at the 2017 FIFA World Cup on merit with a strong showing at the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship, which will be held in India ahead of the South Asian nation’s hosting of next year’s global youth extravaganza.
With hosting rights guaranteeing India a place at the 17th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship, the young Blue Tigers still earned their ticket via the qualifiers by finishing runners-up in Group E and Adam is adamant that his team can repeat the feat for the World finals, with a top-four finish in September’s Asian competition ensuring a berth at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Should India finish among the top four teams, three play-off matches will be organised among the four losing teams of the quarter-finals to determine the fifth placed team that will qualify for India 2017.
“Our goal stays the same – qualifying to the U-17 World Cup on merit. We will be ready and fit for the championship,” the 43-year-old German said after the recently-concluded AFC U-16 Championship draw pooled the hosts alongside the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, who finished above India in their qualifying group.
“This isn’t a ‘Group of Death’ at all,” continued former Azerbaijan U-17 coach Adam.
“This is us plus the 5 other top team in Asia. I don’t know how many times I have met Iran as opponents and they are there again in our group. I don’t have any idea about Saudi Arabia and UAE. I will try to gather as much information as we can about them and then sit down to analyse them and find out the solution to beat them.”
Having failed to make it to the 2014 AFC U-16 Championship after finishing third in their group behind Kuwait and Tajikistan, India produced a better showing in the qualifiers this time around, booking their place in the finals as the third-best runners-up.
Adam led India to an impressive 5-0 victory over Bahrain, which was followed up by a 3-0 loss to eventual Group E winners Iran before the South Asians secured second place with a 6-0 hammering of Lebanon, with Suresh Singh Wangjam netting a hat-trick to take his tally in the qualifiers to four following the midfielder’s strike in the opening fixture.
And now Adam is looking to mastermind a more impressive performance for the 16-team Asian finals, which kick-off on September 15 in Goa, starting with an intensive training camp back in his homeland.
“We have a lot of ground to cover. Right from when we land in Germany at 8am in the morning, we will start. The same day at 6pm we will have our first session. What it basically means is that there isn’t much time to rest.”
Photo: AFP
Source: the-afc.com