AFC U-16 Qualifiers: Reactions from Indian Coach Nicolai Adam

Nicolai Adam, the coach of the nation's U 16 team having participated in the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) U16 championship qualifiers, was in jubilant mood as he witnessed his team tank the Lebanese U 16 team by a 0-6 scoreline in their final Group 'E' match.

“I had said after our defeat to Iran that I did not like the performance of both the teams on that day and I stay with my opinion. Today we saw U-16 Football as U-16 football should be played – tactically and possession wise and not just long balls as it was on display in the match against Iran,” commented the coach, in the post-match interaction.

He further emphasized, "Football at the U-16 level should be played like this.”

Asked what the secret to his team's immense ability on display was, the German gaffer praised the people behind the team's selection, explaining, "It’s only from July 1 that I started training the team and I need to mention about my immense respect for the technical people who were in charge of the team prior to me taking charge. Our Technical Director (TD) Scott O’Donell and former TD Robert Baan had selected 50 per cent of the present squad much prior to me joining and I selected remaining half. Many of the players who excelled in the championship were selected prior. my assistant coaches were also in charge prior to me taking over the job,"

The national U 16 gaffer opined he'd like to play Iran again, but at the main tournament next year, believing his team have the quality, but disgruntled with style of play.

"With due respect to Iran, we played much stronger teams during the exposure teams in Germany and even won. But to win a game like this you need to play without making mistakes, which we were not able to,” commented Adam, after witnessing his team's dismantling by an organized Iranian side. 

The coach further added, "It was in the last 20 minutes that we played football. The second goal at the stroke of interval killed us."

Opining his team still had some way to go before they became 'strong' the former Azerbaijan U19 coach clarified, “The boys are young and we have time to prepare them for the bigger challenges that stay ahead. We could not reproduce our good performance which we put up against Bahrain. In my opinion, we lost because we were weak, and not because Iran were strong.”

“It was not a good match for both sides as there were plenty of long balls played by both sides while players from this age should play more on the pitch,” observed the gaffer, clearly miffed with the method of play employed by both teams.