India Eye Winning Start In AFC U-17 Asian Cup

A year and a half of hard work will be put to test as India eye a winning start against Vietnam in their AFC U-17 Asian Cup opener in Thailand on Saturday. India head coach Bibiano Fernandes, having helped the team reach the semi-finals in the 2018 edition of the tournament, stressed on the importance of inculcating a winning culture in the boys. "Of course, improvement in the players is key, but winning is always important. We want to develop and cultivate top players, and we cannot do that if we are not winning," said Fernandes.

"Winning matches and qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup is most important. If we don't play the World Cup at this age, we can't develop as a footballing nation. Development is on our mind, but we also focus on winning." India had previously faced Vietnam in 2018 edition of the competition (then known as the AFC U-16 Championship), a match that they won 1-0 after an 86th minute penalty by Vikram Partap Singh.

Recalling the match, Fernandes said, "We had played Vietnam in 2018 in the group stage, and it was a great experience for the boys. We were able to build on that result and went on to secure two more qualifications for this tournament.

"We've had more talented players coming in since our grassroots are getting better every year, so we are hoping for a very good game this time too," he said.

India have trained in Spain and Germany for the last month and a half, playing matches against the youth sides of Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid, Getafe CF, UD Levante, VfB Stuttgart and FC Augsburg.

Although the results have been quite positive for the Blue Colts, Fernandes feels that Group D of the AFC U-17 Asian Cup, where they have been clubbed together with Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Japan, will