On Pamela Conti and Bibiano Fernandes lies the responsibility of making India look good among Asia’s youngest competitive football cohort. The Asian under-17 finals for women and men will start within days of each other in Suzhou, China, and in Saudi Arabia. Under Conti, the women will go first followed by Fernandes’s men.
Conti’s team has reached China, the under-17 men are expected to fly to Jeddah from Doha on May 3. The women’s team have been grouped with Australia, Japan and Lebanon; the men with Uzbekistan and Australia after North Korea withdrew. For the women, a 12-team competition, the top two from each group and two best third sides will qualify to the quarter-finals. For the men, where 16 countries have been split into four groups, the group winners and the second-placed team will make the round of eight.
World Cup: a distraction?
Qualifying for the quarter-final will mean a berth in the men’s under-17 World Cup in Qatar later this year. It will be the first time India will have done that on merit. To reach there in the women’s equivalent in Morocco, also this year, India will make the semi-final in Asia.
Will thinking of the World Cup be a distraction as it possibly was for the team in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup? India went to Australia thinking of Brazil 2027 and to say what they got was a rude awakening would be understating the obvious. On commentary during the Indian Super League match between East Bengal and Odisha FC, Pradhyum Reddy spoke of players from India’s 2017 under-17 World Cup group still not being sure of their basics. Evaluation of India’s performance in these finals should be made keeping that in mind. What is true for the men is truer for the women given their lack of game time at all levels.
It is good to be hopeful, having beaten Iran to get to the men’s finals and Conti’s team winning the SAFF under-19, but it would definitely not be a disappointment if India do not make the World Cup. What is important is how India cope with the occasion and how cohesive their game is against opponents from countries way more invested in the sport.
Appointed in January, Conti, a former Italy international midfielder with 30 goals in a 16-year career, had more time with the team that Amelia Valverde. The women’s team head coach had six weeks to make an impact and was removed when she could not. Conti’s team lost their friendlies against Russia but it would have given them an idea of what to expect against, say, Australia. Players do not need to be scared of the ball, she has said. In one of the friendlies against Russia, India had 60% of the ball.
Conti’s squad has also trained longer, in Bengaluru and then in Gurugram before leaving for China. In that time, they played practice matches against age-specific boys’ teams and away friendlies against Myanmar winning both.
On familiar territory
Fernandes, a former India international, is on familiar territory having taken India to the finals four times since 2018. In 2018, India lost 0-1 to South Korea in the quarter-finals. It was the only goal India had conceded and it meant South Korea qualified for the semi-final and the 2019 World Cup in Brazil. That was then. Make the quarter-finals in Saudi Arabia and India would be assured of a World Cup berth. That India made the finals after a come-from-behind win against Iran is a big deal and proof of how the gap is narrower at this level. Fernandes made that point when we spoke last December soon after India qualified.
“Iran and South Korea are almost on the same level. And if we can win against Iran, you never know, we can be in the top eight if we work on the squad and play friendlies against stronger teams,” he said.
India lost 1-2 to South Korea in a closed-door match during a three-match friendly tour of Thailand where they drew 2-2 with the home team and beat Indonesia 3-0. In April, they beat UAE 1-0 but also lost 1-5. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 with Qatar in Doha.
The under-17 teams have had long preparatory camps and travelled for friendlies. Pretty much the minimum requirement, right? True. But it was arranged by a federation without a commercial partner. The All India Football Federation did the same for the women’s and the under-20 teams before their Asian finals as well.
