Four youngsters have been selected by the India U-17 World Cup Team head coach Nicolai Adam during the recent trials that were conducted by the All India Football Federations (AIFF). The trials were headed by former India captain Abhishek Yadav, who is currently the Director of Scouting at AIFF.
The head coach firmly believes that they deserve another trial with the U-17 team. The team, who failed to win a single game at the BRICS U-17 Football Cup, are now preparing for the U-17 World Cup. The prestigious tournament is being held in India itself, and the team are expected to ride on home support.
"There is no guarantee that these boys would eventually make it to the World Cup squad but they certainly deserve the chance for another trial with my team. The four boys would join my camp after we come back from our back to back tournaments in Brazil and Russia,” said the experienced German coach.
“I myself have been actively involved in many scouting ventures since taking over but from my experience, I can say that this was one of the better ones from all which I have attended. The level of Football which I saw was really impressive and we have scouted four,” he added.
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The Indian team is hoping to put on a good performance, with the AIFF making sure that all 55 teams in the U-16 League send their three best players for the trials. The trials took place in Kalyani, Delhi and Goa to make it easier for players who were attending. Out of 140 boys, eleven were called for a final session, from which four were hand picked by Nicolai Adam himself.
The German coach believes that the idea of trials will be immensely useful in the long run. Consecutive poor performances in previous tournaments have led the Indian organisation to take this new step.
"It was a novel idea from AIFF to invite the four best players from the U-16 Clubs. In Youth Football you just have to give the boys the opportunity to play and that’s how you scout players. So we decided on an extra round of scouting and it has paid dividends.”
He also heaped praise on Abhishek Yadav, naming him 'one of the most important decisions he has made.'
"If I look back on my tenure so far, I would say one of the most important decisions which I have taken so far is to get Abhishek (Yadav) on board. Besides his pro-active involvement in scouting and expanding the network, he has been doing a lot for the team off the field. I am extremely happy that we have him. His work ethics are superb and that he understands the game makes it all the easier for all of us," Adam concluded.
