AFC U-16 Qualifiers: India's stunning show in Iran

The last few months have not been easy going for Indian football fans – what with the Indian senior team’s recent performances along with reports that clubs in the I-League are contemplating shutting down. However, this campaign has put the smiles back in Indian football. This is an exceptional group of young talent and credit must go to Nicolai Adam, their German head coach for the work he has done. The hope now is that these youngsters kick on and replicate their performances at the senior level.

With this performance, India finished second in their group behind Iran. Though India have already qualified for the 2017 U17 FIFA World Cup on dint of hosting the tournament, what this performance essentially meant that even if India had not been given automatic qualification, they would have still qualified for the World Cup by virtue of their own performance.

It does not get much better than this. Shaking off a hard fought loss to Iran, the India under 16 men’s football team put in an inspired performance to pummel Lebanon 6-0 in the final match of their Asian Football Confederation Under-16 qualifiers on Monday in Tabriz, Iran. Coming after a similar 5-0 thrashing of Bahrain a few days ago, this result marked the cornerstone of what has been a great campaign for Indian football’s promising young stars.

The U16 team posted some impressive results during its exposure tour to Germany ahead of the qualifiers in Iran. The qualifying campaign will further come as a big morale booster for the Indian colts, who will now head to Spain to play youth teams of a handful of La Liga clubs.

Next year's AFC U16 Championships in Goa should provide a better indication of where the team stands. With India set to play in the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017, the team's performances at present come as a ray of hope in a country where football remains in a state of crisis.

Head coach Nicolai Adam has been able to perform an admirable job with the youngsters, and it is important that AIFF continues to organise exposure tours for the team, which will fly India's colours two years later at the showpiece event to be held in India.

Courtesy: http://www.catchnews.com/football-news/afc-u16-qualifiers-india-s-stunning-show-in-iran-comes-as-a-ray-of-hope-1442830188.html