Indian squad for AFC U-14 Championship announced

A 21-member Indian team will be participating in the AFC Under-14 Championship to be held in Mashhad, Iran. Besides hosts Iran, India will face Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan in Group D.

India play their first match against Iran on April 23 followed by a match against Kyrgyzstan the following day. India's third match has been slated against Pakistan on April 28 while the last match is against Turkmenistan on April 29.

The India Under-14 squad leaves for Iran early tomorrow morning.


INDIA Under-14

Goalkeepers
Dheeraj Singh, Mohammad Nawaz, Antonio Da Silva

Defenders
Amarjeet Mishra, Amartya Basu, Anwar Ali, Jaskaranpreet Singh, Jitendra Singh, Smiel Diyali, Flan Ansil Gomes, Ritik Rai

Midfielders
Abhijit Sarkar, Hrishi Dhat, Mohammad Shahjahan, Sudipto Malakar, Ribhav Jatin Sardesai, Ajay Alex Anthony

Forwards
Abuthaheer, Gaston D’Silva, Khumanthem Ninthoinganba, Shubham Sarangi

Officials
Narayana Menon (Coach), Jude Barreto (Assistant Coach), Mario Aguiar (Goalkeeping Coach), Vishnu Nair (Physiotherapist), Anshuman Arya (Manager)

2014 AFC Under-14 Championship qualifiers: India Boys match schedule

The India Under-14 boys will travel to Iran later this month to participate in the 2014 AFC Under-14 Championship qualifiers to face the hosts Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan with Sri Lanka opting out.

In their Group D opener India face the hosts Iran (April 23), then Kyrgyzstan (April 24), Pakistan (April 28) and finally Turkmenistan (April 29) at the Samen Al Aemeh Stadium in Mashhad.

The Asian Football Confederation have restructured the AFC Under-14 Championship into a proper tournament instead of just being a Football Festival. The 46 teams were divided into four zones (West, Central and South, ASEAN and East) with 12 of the teams coming from West Asia, 13 from Central and South, 11 teams from ASEAN and 10 teams from the East, but some nations have pulled out of the competition,.

The top two teams from each zone, totalling eight teams, will qualify to the AFC U-14 Championship 2014 Finals.

India Under-14 Boys off to a winning start in SAARC Tournament

The India Under-14 Boys opened their campaign in the U-14 SAARC Tournament with a 2-1 victory over Afghanistan at the Tokinosumika Sports Centre in Shizuka, Japan. Striker Krishna Pandit scored both of India's goals in the first half.

Pandit opened the scoring immediately after kick-off. The goal scored after only 30 seconds was the fastest goal in the tournament so far. Krishna followed a Amey Ranawade pass and chipped it over the rival goalkeeper. The second goal came in the 5th minute off a set-piece movement. Ranawade again set-up the goal, when he made a run on the right wing and his cross was directed into the net by Krishna.

Changing over, Afghanistan went all out. But Jerry, Amit Tudu and Amey Ranawade in the Indian defence stood tall. Afghanistan eventually managed to pull one back in the injury time. in a match that was played in two halves, each of 25 minutes duration.

Head Coach Sajid Dar said i'’s important to stick to the philosophy. "This is a good exposure for us and overall development stays the priority. We played in a 4-3-3 format and the boys stayed keen in keeping possession all throughout."

Assistant coach, Goutam Ghosh lauded the boys for sticking to the basics. "This was the first time the boys played on an artificial turf and they adapted well. They implemented all has been taught in the training sessions."

Besides India, eight more teams – Japan Football Association Academy 1, Japan Football Association Academy 2, Pakistan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal are taking part in the Tournament. India will be playing overall four matches in the tournament and it is about the international exposure for the boys.

AIFF Under-14 Academy Team lands in Japan

A 16-member All India Football Federation Regional Academy Team landed in Shizuoka, Japan to participate in the Under-14 SAARC Programme. The Programme is being held from October 7-20. This is the first overseas exposure trip for AIFF's Regional Academy boys.

The boys headed into the Programme from a Under-14 National Training Camp which was organised at the Pailan World School in Joka, Kolkata. Sajid Dar stays the Head Coach with Goutam Ghosh being his deputy while Vishnu Nair is the physio of the team.


AIFF Under-14 Academy Team

Goalkeepers
Sam Noronha (Goa), Subrata Das (West Bengal)

Defenders
Amey Ganesh Ranawade (Maharashtra), Jayananda Singh (Manipur), Jerry Lalrinzuala (Mizoram), Prasenjit Chakraborty (West Bengal), Amit Tudu (West Bengal)

Midfielders
Aaron Franklin Hermiz (Goa), Saravanan Kiran (Karnataka), Bugde Vineet Vikas (Goa), Bodo Baoringdao (Assam), Kyntiew Shaphrang Kharlukhi (Meghalaya)

Forwards
Mohammed Hasil (Kerala), Krishna Pandit (Chandigarh), Zonunmawia (Mizoram), Laishram Bedashwor Singh (Manipur)

AFC U-14 Football Festival: India boys ready

A 22 member India Under-14 Boys National Football Team would be leaving tomorrow to participate in the AFC U-14 Football Festival to be held in the Nepali capital Kathmandu from May 17 to 25. Besides the hosts Nepal the young Indians would face national youth sides from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives.

India U-14 head coach Sajid Yousuf Dar said, "This is the new beginning for the development of football in India. All the boys and support staff worked tirelessly during the two month long Coaching Camp. Hope we would achieve our goal and stand up to the expectations of everyone."

"The Festival would be a turning point for these young talents. It would give them the much desired exposure to graduate their skills," he added.

Sajid Yousuf Dar also thanked AIFF National Team Director Shubhankar Mukherjee and Technical Director Regional Academies Scott O'Donell for providing all possible support to the successful conduct of the camp.

The coaching camp for 34 players was held in Kalyani, West Bengal recently and out of which the final 22 players were selected to represent the India Under-14 Team.


INDIA Under-14

Goalkeepers
Subrata Das, Sam Noronha

Defenders
M. Jayananda Singh, Jerry Lalrinzuala, T. Kishan Singh, Prosenjit Chakraborty, Amay Ganesh Ranawade, Amit Tudu, Mohammad Azhar, Schubert Mario D'Costa

Midfielders
Bodo Baoringdao, Bugde Vineet Vikas, Laishram Loyangamba Singh, Kyntiew Shaphrang Kharlukhi, Aaron Franklin Hermiz, Saravanan Kiran

Forwards
Sourav Chakraborty, Laishram Bedashwor Singh, Mohammed Hasil, Hoble Kapil Satish, Krishna Pandit, Zonunmawia

Officials
Sajid Yousuf Dar (Head Coach), Tarun Roy (Assistant Coach-cum-Manager), Mohamad Yusuf Ansari (Goalkeeping Coach), Vishnu Nair (Physio)