Tag: U17 World Cup (page 1 of 2)

Nationwide Football Talent Hunt Kicks Off

School Sports Promotion FoundationThe AIFF, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and School Sports Promotion Foundation (SSPF) have come together to launch a Football National Talent Search & Nurture program as India prepare to host the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017. The football talent hunt is structured from the bottom up – starting at schools, moving up to district level, then further to the state level until, finally, the very best talents from each state compete at a national-level to earn a place on coach, Nicolai Adam’s India Under-17 squad.

The program has already kicked off in regions across the country and is open to all players born on or after 1 January, 2000. Geared to provide young footballers the opportunity to showcase their skills and impress the coaches, there is a lot riding on the success of this talent hunt. Undoubtedly, the scale of the initiative is massive and strewn with challenges, but the hope is that the federation will unearth some hidden gems along the way.

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AFC U16 Qualifiers: India U16s Lose to Iran

India U16 lost to Iran U16: 0-3

(Sharfi 15, Khodamoradi 43, Ghaderi 57)

India’s Under-16 team lost 0-3 to the Iran Under-16s in their penultimate AFC U16 Championship qualifying match in Tabriz City, Iran. Coming into the match on the back of a successful Germany tour and a big win over the Bahrain U16s, the Indians had been quietly confident of giving the hosts a good fight.

The Indian colts actually began strongly as they dominated the opening ten minutes with quality possession. However, Iran scored first in the 15th minute against the run of play. Not to be deterred, the India U16s kept pouring forward but, despite their best efforts, were unable to break down the Iranian defence. Despite the pressure, it was Iran who scored again two minutes before half-time which left the Indians going into the break two goals down. It then got worse in the 57th minute when Iran scored their third goal after which both teams seemed resigned to the result.

The game ended at 0-3 in favour of Iran. The young Blue Tigers will take on the Lebanon U16s who lost 1-2 to Bahrain earlier in the day.

To read the match report, click here.

India U17 World Cup Squad Chalks Up Another Win

Now into their 10th match of the Germany exposure trip, India’s Under-17 World Cup team played a tough match against Bundesliga club, FC Ingolstadt Under-16s to get a  tight 1-0  win. With AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das, looking on at the Deutsches Fussball Internat (DFI) ground in Bad Aibling, Germany, the boys went toe-to-toe with their illustrious German counterparts for much of the game before Aniket played a delightful through ball for Aman to score in the 46th minute at the start of the second half. This prompted waves of attacks from the FC Ingolstadt boys, but the Indians held out to keep a clean sheet and see the game through.

To read the match report, click here.

India U17 WC Squad Defeat SV Wacker Burghausen

The Indian Under-17 World Cup squad continued their string of impressive displays by defeating the SV Wacker Burghausen U16 team 4-0. The young Blues opened their account as early as the 3rd minute before doubling their lead in the 7th minute. The first half ended with score at 2-0 and India coach, Nicolai Adam, rang in the changes for the second half to give more playing time to the rest of the squad.

More sustained pressure in the second half from the Indians eventually yielded another goal in the 64th minute and prolific scorer, Aniket, put the game to bed with his second goal of the match in the 84th minute. The match ended with a 4-0 scoreline in favour of India.

Goalscorers: Komal, Ninthoiganba, Aniket (2)

About SV Wacker Burghausen

It is a German club that plays in the highest association football league in Bavaria. It participates in one of the five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system. It is also one of Germany’s largest sports clubs with about 6,000 members participating in nearly 24 different sports.

To read the match report, click here.

U17 World Cup Squad Share Spoils with AKA Tirol

The India Under-16 team took on AKA Tirol on a wet and cold evening in Austria as part of their Germany exposure tour. Despite finding themselves two goals down within the first 25 minutes of the match, the Indians battled back to secure a 2-2 draw through goals by Komal and substitute Rahul.

This is the eighth match of the Germany tour as India’s Under-17 2017 World Cup squad, coached by Nicolai Adam, get high-quality match practice against well-drilled European teams. To be hosted in India, the AIFF is going all out to ensure that no stone is left unturned to give the Indian team the best chance to perform well at this highly prestigious tournament.

To read the match report, click here.

 

Germany Tour: U17 World Cup Squad Continue Winning Form

With two wins on the trot against German opposition, confidence should have been coursing through the veins of India’s U16 team training for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in India in 2017. That was not to be the case, however, as the Indians took on SpVgg Greuther Fuerth in the seventh match of their Germany exposure trip.

Slow to get into the game, the Indians found themselves two goals down by the early stages of the second half. Unfortunately for the German side, the second goal shook India coach, Nicolai Adam’s team out of their slumber as they drew on their never-say-die mentality. By the 54th minute, the India U16s turned the tables on their counterparts and were 3-2 up. Having gone ahead, the Indians defended stoutly to end the game with a narrow 3-2 win.

To read the match report, click here.

India U16s Chalk Up Another Win in Germany

India U16s v FSV Frankfurt

India U16s v FSV Frankfurt
Image Credit: AIFF Media

Continuing their fine run of form from their 13 goal win over the Rosenheim U16s, the India U16s notched up a victory of a slightly different kind by overcoming the FSV Frankfurt U16s 2-0 in a hard-fought encounter.

This was the team’s sixth match, and fourth win, of the Germany exposure tour as they prepare for the upcoming AFC U16 Qualifiers in Iran next month.

To read the match report, click here.

India U16 Teams Have a Field Day

The India U16 - SAFF Championship 2015

The India U16 Team – SAFF Championship
2015 Credits: AIFF Media Team

The Indian U16 teams, the National Team taking part in the SAFF U16 Championship in Bangladesh and the team currently touring Germany, posted big victories over the Sri Lanka U16s and Rosenheim U16s.

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India U16s Lose Hard Fought Encounter

Red Bull Salzburg LogoEarlier today, the India U16s went down fighting 2-3 to a much-fancied Red Bull Salzburg U16 team. Played over two halves of 40 minutes each, the game began with the Salzburg outfit putting the Indian colts under early pressure, which eventually yielded a goal from the penalty spot in the first half. After ending the half a goal down, the India U16s conceded another one just as the second half got underway. The goal sparked the Indians into life with some better pressing, passing and movement resulting, eventually, in a goal. However, Red Bull Salzburg scored yet again to put the game to bed, but not before the Indians ended with another goal and a late charge in the last 5 minutes of the match.

With this result, the team now has two wins and two losses from the four matches played so far on the Germany exposure tour. To read the match report, click here.

India U16s Experience Success on Germany Tour

While the German exposure trip began with a narrow loss to Jahn Regensburg, the young Blue Tigers have now settled down and begun to show their quality with better performances. The Indian U16 team have now registered back-to-back wins against German teams, DFI Bad Aibling and JFG Mangfalltal.

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