India has been slotted in Pot 3 for the official draw of the AFC U-16 Championship which is scheduled to take place on Thursday at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.
The Indian team qualified for the AFC U-16 Championships finals after finishing top of Group B in Tashkent. They finished with seven points from three matches scoring 10 goals while conceding one in the group which included hosts Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Turkmenistan.
“We are eagerly looking forward to the draw. The boys gave a good account of themselves when they qualified above Uzbekistan that too in Uzbekistan in the Qualifiers,” India head coach Bibiano Fernandes said.
“It’s time for them to show their character and gear themselves for sterner tests in the future.”
This is India’s third consecutive qualification in the AFC U-16 finals, and ninth overall.
In 2018, the U-16 boys stayed a win away from a direct qualification into the Fifa U-17 World Cup when they lost to South Korea by a solitary goal in the quarterfinals.
That was India’s second entry into the quarter-finals, the earlier being in 2002.
The current batch will head to the Championship in Bahrain on back of some amazing results last year that saw them net score a whopping 28 goals without conceding any from five matches on their way to the SAFF U-15 Championship title.
The Indian team currently remains unbeaten in eight international matches.
(with PTI inputs)
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