U-15 Indian Football Team head to Nepal for SAFF Championships

The U-16 team start their campaign on 19th August against Maldives. 

A 23-member Indian U-15 boys team departed to participate in the SAFF U-15 Championships in Nepal today (August 16). The squad will train for two days before playing its first match in the tournament on August 19. The games are set to be played at ANFA Complex, Satdobato, Lalitpur and Halchowk Stadium. Pakistan will not take part in the event due to internal issues and Afghanistan has moved to CAFF.

Also Read: ISL and I-league clubs compete in transfer battle as Indian football heats up!

The opening encounter on August 19 is against Maldives while their next opponent is the hosts Nepal on August 23. The top two teams from the two groups qualify for the Semifinals.

Schedule of the tournament

Head Coach Bibiano Fernandes, informed that the entire squad is “looking forward to the tournament.”

“The team is all prepared to face the challenges in the SAFF Championships. This will be a perfect practice for the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers,” he said.

“The tournament will help us strategize and know our strengths and weaknesses. We’ve played well in our practice games but competitive matches are always a different scenario,” he added. “But I’ve full faith that my boys will deliver.”

Catch the trailer on the SAFF Championship here!

Bibiano, also said stated that he “will miss Dhanu”.

“He was the captain of the side and very important part of the team, but he is now contributing to a greater cause (FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017),” he added.

Also Read: St Kitts and Nevis looking forward to 'top opportunity' in India

“As I’ve said it’s a good test for the players, plus we face Nepal who are also there in our AFC Qualifiers group. We will pay special attention to them. Even Bangladesh in Group A is a strong side.”

The 23-member squad is as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Lalbiakhlua Jongte, Niraj Kumar, Manik Baliyan

DEFENDERS: Sandip Mandi, Shabas Ahammed, Gurkirat Singh, Harpreet Singh, Samir Kerketta, Moirangthem Thoiba Singh, Lalrokima

MIDFIELDERS: Lalchhanhima Sailo, Eric Remruatpuia Chhangte, Givson Singh Moirangthem, Aenam Graffenberg Jyrwa, Ricky John Shabong, Ravi Bahadur Rana

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

STRIKERS: Bekey Oram, Vikram Partap Singh, Harpreet, Ridge Melvin Demello, Shanon, Aleixinho Viegas, Adarsh Rai Das, Subungsa Basumatary

NOTE: The matches will be telecast live on AP1 in Nepal and KhelNow.com likely to stream India's game.