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The Indian colts play their first friendly match against Serbia U19s on September 13. They are slated to play the next International friendly against the hosts on September 17.
Floyd Pinto's boys gear up to play the youth team of Serbia after playing The U-19 teams of France, Croatia, and Slovenia in the recently concluded Four-nation tournament in Croatia.
Although the young Indian side did not manage to win any of the three encounters the Four-nation tour, they showed great character in all the matches and put up a tremendous fight against the youth teams of the football powerhouses.
All India Football Federation along with the Sports Authority of India is organizing regular tours for the exposure of the young players, which in turn will aid them in preparing for the U19 AFC Championship qualifications next year.
Even the U-16 team was sent on multiple exposure tours and these efforts are certainly going to help Indian football in the long run. Playing against the Youth teams of the top 50 teams (according to FIFA rankings) will not only help the players to gain some knowledge but also the Indian coaches and staff.
The Indian colts had surprised one and all when they defeated one of the best U20 teams -- Argentina -- 2-1 in the COTIF Cup. Anwar Ali was the star on the day as he scored a goal with a sublime free kick.
After a high in the COTIF Cup, Floyd Pinto's men lost all three matches in the Four-nation tournament.
The first match was against the hosts Croatia, who handed the Indian colts a 5-0 drubbing. The match was already over when India U19s conceded two early goals and the opposition was 4-0 up in the first half itself. In their next encounter, they lost by a solitary goal to Slovenia. This was a game dominated by the Indians and they were really unfortunate to concede a goal late in added time after coming agonizingly close to scoring on multiple occasions.
Indian custodian Prabhsukhan Gill played exceptionally well in the match against France, but the opposition were just too strong and constantly putting pressure on the Indian defense with a string of attacks. Indian striker Aniket Jadhav had his chances in the match but failed to convert any.
A positive takeaway was that India created plenty of chances in each match and were superb on the ball, even holding possession effectively for long durations and showing they are hungry for a win by not just sitting back in their own half. Restricting far superior opponents such as France for the majority of the match is proof of the immense caliber of the young Indian boys.
Floyd Pinto and his boys will hope to pick themselves up after the three back-to-back losses and get back to winning ways as they get set to face Serbia.
Here is all you need to know about India U19s upcoming encounter:
Date: Sept 13, 2018
Match: India U-19 vs Serbia U-19
Timing: 8:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST)
Venue: Technical and Training Centre of Serbia FA
Television Channel: No telecast
You can also follow ALL the LIVE updates of the match on Sportskeeda.
Do you think the Indian colts will pose a threat to a strong opposition such as Serbia? Do share your opinion in the comments section below.
