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The Indian U-16 football team marched their way through the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers to make their way into the main tournament, which is scheduled to be held in Bahrain next year. The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship also doubles up as a qualifier to the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup, with the four semi-finalists representing AFC in the biennial event.
Results
18 September 2019: India U-16 5-0 Turkmenistan U-16
Coming on the back of an eleven match unbeaten streak, the India U-16 team kicked-off their qualifying campaign with a rousing victory as they humbled Turkmenistan 5-0. India took the lead just before the half-hour mark when Shubho Paul pounced on a rebound to slot home the ball after the 'keeper saved Sridarth Nongmeikapam's initial shot from the right-wing.
Sridarth's efforts got their due reward just before the half-time whistle when he received a cutback from Taison Singh and smashed the ball to give India a two-goal lead. Taison, too, found his name on the scoresheet when the teams resumed play as he converted a cross from Shubho from near the far-post.
Himanshu Jangra was brought in place of Taison at the hour mark and joined the party by getting at the end of a through ball from Maheson Singh to continue his goalscoring spree. The India U-16 team showed no mercy even in the dying minutes of the game as Sridarth completed his brace by plonking the ball through the net in injury time.
20 September 2019: India U-16 5-0 Bahrain U-16
Continuing on the winning momentum, India didn't hesitate a bit to get their noses upfront. Sridarth beat the offside trap to get at the end of a pass from Yoihenba Meitei to give India in the lead in the 4th minute of the game.
Bahrain goalkeeper Mohamed Jafar failed to collect a cross from Pritam Meetei, resulting in an own goal for India. Two minutes later, Sridarth got another goal for India when he slipped the ball into the back of the net from inside the box.
Bahrain required breathing space and desperately wanted to hear the half-time whistle. However, Shubho Paul won the ball from the feet of the opposition defenders to give India a four-goal cushion at the half-time break.
The Bahrain goalkeeper's costly mistakes gave India another goal in the final quarter of the game as he spilt a shot and Shubho made no mistake in chipping the ball into the empty net.
22 September 2019: India U-16 1-1 Uzbekistan U-16
A draw would have been enough for India U-16 to progress to the 2020 AFC U-16 Championships. But, India's coach Bibiano Fernandes intended to collect maximum points from the outing.
The scoreline remained goalless in the first half but India returned with vigour in the second one. They got the goal in the 66th minute when Sridarth latched on to a rebound to score the first goal of the game. However, Uzbekistan U-16's Rian Islamov equalized fifteen minutes later to level things up and the scoreline read the same at full time.
With seven points from 3 matches and ahead of Uzbekistan on goal difference, India finished at the pole position of Group G.
What's next?
India have gained entry to the AFC U-16 Championship for the third consecutive time since 2016. This will be their second appearance under the tutelage of Bibiano Fernandes, who has taken the youth scene in India by storm.
In the 2018 edition, finishing and scoring goals were heavy concerns for India. But, with the team scoring 11 goals in the qualifiers and conceding only one, the trio of Sridarth Nongmeikapam, Himanshu Jangra, and Shubho Paul has taken well-care of it.
The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers start on 18 September next year. The India U-16 team should be playing a lot of friendlies and invitational tournaments in the meantime to gel amongst themselves. A new addition to the current squad might also be made once the 2019-20 Hero Junior League kicks off.
The draw will take place later, with teams being seeded based on their performance in the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship. Bahrain, the hosts, Japan, and Australia will be placed in Pot A. Tajikistan are leading their group in the qualifiers and should they qualify, they will fill the last spot Pot A.
South Korea and North Korea will fill two spots in Pot B with Oman and Indonesia occupying the other two in case they qualify. If either of these teams fail to make through, India will be placed in Pot B or else the Blue Colts will occupy Pot C in the draw.
Based on the draw, their group stage opponents in the 2020 AFC U-16 Championships will be known.
Teams to watch out in 2020 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers
Japan: The defending champions had a similar fate in the qualifiers to that of India as they rolled past Laos and Cambodia 4-0 and 8-0 respectively in their first two matches. But, they were held by Malaysia 2-2 in their final match.
Japan has a solid youth system and are very consistent in the U-16 AFC tournaments, with the last time they failed to qualify in the knockout stages was way back in 2004.
DPR Korea: Although they haven't tasted much success at the senior level, DPR Korea is a very strong team when it comes to age-group tournaments. They won the tournament in 2010 and 2014 and pumped in 26 goals, conceding only one, in the qualifiers.
This would be their eleventh appearance in the AFC U-16 Championship.
South Korea: India would love to avenge their defeat in the AFC U-16 Championship they suffered in the previous edition in case they cross paths. South Korea pipped India 1-0 in the quarter-finals, dashing hopes of making their second appearance in FIFA U-17 World Cup.
In the Qualifiers, they pumped ten goals past Chinese Taipei before eking out Myanmar and Thailand 1-0 and 2-0 respectively.
