Kolkata: Bibiano Fernandes is looking back to look ahead. The come-from-behind win against Iran which fetched a finals berth in the Asian under-17 men’s championship is proof of what India can do. The head coach hopes they can do it at least one more time.
“One good performance, like we had against Iran, can change everything for us,” Fernandes told HT on a virtual call from Doha on Thursday. “We are hoping the boys can do that, either against Australia or Uzbekistan.”
It could lead to a quarter-final berth in the Asian finals and since that will mean a first-ever qualification to the under-17 World Cup, Fernandes cannot be accused of overstating the importance of pulling off another upset.
Expanded to 48 teams, the World Cup in Qatar later this year is not always the focus, and the boys know the importance of staying in the moment. “But it is the goal, the dream for every boy,” said the 49-year-old former international from Goa.
India are in a three-team group because North Korea withdrew. “We were informed around two days ago,” said Fernandes. This would mean around the time India drew 0-0 with Qatar in Doha.
It was one of the 14 friendlies India played this year, the list including the 1-2 defeat to South Korea, beating Tajikistan (4-0), UAE (1-0), Indonesia (3-0) and holding Thailand 2-2.
This will be Fernandes’s fourth Asian under-17 finals appearance since 2018. Preparations for earlier editions included matches against the under-17 teams of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid but he said this was the best because India played teams with World Cup experience.
“Against all these stronger teams, we really played well although the scoreline didn’t always reflect that. In every match, we created chances. Like against Iran, we have to score those goals.”
In a must-win match, India beat Iran 2-1 in Ahmedabad on November 30 to top the group, which also included Palestine and Chinese Taipei and qualify for the 16-team finals. India play Australia on May 6 and Uzbekistan four days later, both in Jeddah.
Preparations included using India’s analyst Prajval V Chakravarthy’s large network of like-minded professionals to source match videos. In the way India have seen Australia and Uzbekistan’s matches, they have also seen us play, said Fernandes. “Both are technically good and are regular at World Cup finals (Australia have qualified 13 times, Uzbekistan thrice). But so were Iran.” Iran have been in the final round five times.
Fernandes has spoken of trying to encourage what he terms as “positive risk-taking.” That means not always taking the safest option in certain areas of the pitch, he said. “We have good wingers, good midfielders, they can take risks. We want wingers to take on the full backs and get those crosses in.
“Against Iran, Gunleiba (Wangkheirakpam) took on the defender. Shooting on goal should be something they should be able to do without thinking too much.”
Wangkheirakpam has since scored against South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. Dallalmoun Gangte got the winner against UAE.
After qualifying, the boys took a month’s break though some of them played for their clubs even then, said Fernandes. Training resumed in Goa in early January and as the head coach had said after qualifying, fresh trials were called.
We wanted to see players who, though born in 2009, were part of teams in older youth leagues, he said. They deserved another look, said the former midfielder who played 11 seasons for Churchill Brothers and a number of clubs in Goa before joining East Bengal in 2006-07. Four new players have been included, said Fernandes.
It was around the end of January that Tajikistan reached out for friendlies. The squad then moved from Goa to Kolkata to train under lights before leaving for a four-nation tournament in Bangkok in March. They have been on the road since.
