Soumo Ghosh
AIFF Media Team

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: The India U20 Men’s National Team aims for gradual and constant improvement as they regroup after their opening SAFF U20 Championship 2024 game against Bhutan.

Having beaten their Himalayan neighbours 1-0 in their opening Group B encounter, India have provisionally taken the top spot in Group B with three points to their name. With a three-day gap before their next match against Maldives on August 23, the Blue Colts could manage to squeeze some rest and recovery into their packed schedule.

Head coach Ranjan Chaudhuri said, “We are playing on artificial turfs, which do tend to take a toll on the body, so we have planned to have a recovery session today (Tuesday, August 20). We had initially planned for a pool session, but the rain and the relatively cooler weather here in Nepal made us reconsider those plans. Hence we went ahead with light stretching.

“We plan to put in two productive training sessions in the next couple of days, before we play Maldives,” he added.

With three points on board, the India U20s will have one eye on the next Group B match between Bhutan and Maldives on Wednesday, where a victory for the latter would secure a spot in the semi-finals for the Blue Colts.

“I’m watching all the matches in this tournament, and I will definitely be watching that one. A lot depends on how that match goes,” he said. “We are also going to dissect our match and try to rectify our mistakes from it.”

While Chaudhuri was full of praise for his boys who managed to hold on to the 1-0 lead against Bhutan despite being down to nine men, he also pointed out how India still need to improve while going forward.

“The way our boys fought after the two red cards is indeed commendable. It’s not easy to set a stable formation with nine players, but they managed to hold fort. It speaks a great deal about their character,” said Chaudhuri. “Not only did they hold fort, but they also broke through Bhutan’s defence a few times. Finishing is perhaps the one area we have to work on.”

Midfielder Manjot Singh Dhami was in agreement with his coach, and felt that the team could only improve from here on.

“We can play much better than what we did, and we must show that in our next game. We must work on our combination and communication. But I feel the more matches we play here, the better we will get,” said Dhami. “This is the competition phase, after all. It’s all about what attitude we approach these games with.”

As India prepare for the next match against Maldives, two of their players, Pramveer and Vanlalpeka Guite will be suspended after being sent off against Bhutan. However, the Blue Colts head coach is not overwhelmed by the situation.“

Yes, we will have to replace them in our next match, but the boys are all ready. Those players who started from the bench are equally good, and now it’s an opportunity for the others to fight for those two spots,” he said.