Mumbai: India U-23 National football head coach Derrick Pereira added ten out of the eleven as 19-year-old and one 16 years old to the upcoming AFC – U23 championship.
“We should be very much excited in the process of making history with right combinations and play with a great spirit,” said Pereira.
India had never got to the final in the previous rounds of AFC – U23 Championship and it has to be a big round off chance for us.
Pereira further went on to stress the importance of the friendly that India had played against Qatar, which he believes was a technically accomplished side.
“This is why the friendly against Qatar was so helpful. They are a technically accomplished side, and we showed that we can perform well against such teams. In our group, Uzbekistan is the team that has the acumen for such style of football, and judging by our last game, I think we can stand our ground against them,” he said.
India had controlled a large share of possession against Qatar, whose senior team had clinched the AFC Asian Cup title, earlier this year.
However, the 57-year-old believes that finishing is not the sole responsibility of his attackers.
“Scoring is not the only responsibility of my strikers. The whole team should work together to create opportunities. Whoever gets the chance, in the end, needs to keep calm and finish it, but the main emphasis is on teamwork,” he said.
India U-23 squad:
Goalkeepers: Dheeraj Singh, Prabhsukhan Gill, Md Nawaz.
Defenders: Narender, Nishu Kumar, Sarthak Golui, Gaurav Bora, Mehtab Singh, Anwar Ali, Asish Rai.
Midfielders: Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Vinit Rai, Sahal Abdul, Amarjit Singh, Rohit Kumar, Anirudh Thapa, Komal Thatal, Rahul KP.
Forwards: Liston Colaco, Daniel Lalhlimpuia, Rahim Ali, Rohit Danu.
