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Football

Hopeful to be first India team to qualify for U17 World Cup: Bibiano Fernandes

Indian men's U-17 team head coach Bibiano Fernandes is optimistic and confident after his team was placed along some tough opponents in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 draw.

Hopeful to be first India team to qualify for U17 World Cup: Bibiano Fernandes
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Bibiano Fernandes- India U-17 Men's Coach. (Credits- AIFF)

By

The Bridge Desk

Published: 30 March 2023 5:03 PM GMT

India was drawn with Japan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam in Group D at the AFC U-17 Asian Cup 2023 draw on Thursday. The tournament is set to begin on 15th June, 2023 in Thailand. Indian head coach Bibiano Fernandes is "excited" after taking a look at his opponents.

"We are all excited at the prospect of playing some very good teams. Japan are one of the best sides in Asia, and all the boys are absolutely raring to go against them. Uzbekistan and Vietnam are also good teams, so we will have to be at our best in June," Fernandes told The Bridge.

It's certainly not going to be easy affair for the Blue Colts, especially with defending champions Japan already being the favourites to top the group. Nevertheless, Bibiano looks to an optimistic past and hopes for a promising future.

“Our previous batches have of course played against the teams like Uzbekistan and Vietnam, and we have had some good results against them, so we are very hopeful to reach our goal, which is to be the first Indian team to qualify for the (FIFA U-17) World Cup,” he said.

"We are going to take it step by step, match by match. We have a bunch of quality players in the team, and I believe they can beat the best in Asia on their day," the coach added.

The U-17 team has recently played a couple of friendly matches against the likes of Qatar and Uzbekistan, who are set to face India again in the group stage of the Asian Cup, but Fernandes confirms that the side will try to play as many game as possible in these remaining few months.

"Yes, we are coming close to the main tournament, and the boys are also getting up to the level which they need to be to compete. We have more matches planned for this team, and they will be announced later," he concluded.

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