Akhil Rawat
AIFF Media Team

THIMPHU, BHUTAN: The trip to Bhutan has come full circle for the Indian men's U17 team. Not once, but twice. The Blue Colts will face Bangladesh in the final of the 2024 SAFF U17 Championship at the Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan, on Monday, September 30, 2024, at 17:30 IST. The match will be streamed live on the Sportzworkz YouTube Channel.

India began their tournament nine days ago with a last-gasp 1-0 victory over Bangladesh in the group stage. The same script occurred last year as well, when the India U16 boys beat their eastern neighbours 1-0 in the first game and then 2-0 in the final. Ishfaq Ahmed and his boys will hope for a repeat of that on Monday for a successful title defence.

For the record, India and Bangladesh have met four times in the finals of SAFF men's age-group tournaments, with India winning thrice (U18 in 2019, U20 in 2022 and U16 in 2023) and Bangladesh winning once (U16 in 2015).

"We know Bangladesh are a good side. They did well to come from behind in the semi-final. They had some hiccups but they've been more stable as compared to the other teams. Our win against them is in the past. A final is a different game," said Ahmed in the pre-match press conference.

"There's always some pressure on India in every SAFF tournament as favourites. We have to keep repeating our success. If we want to perform well, consistency is important. I stress that to my boys. We are here to again achieve what we did last year," the former India international added.

India captain and midfielder Ngamgouhou Mate said, "Bangladesh are one of the best teams in this tournament. But we are here on a mission to win the trophy and play good football."

India beat Nepal 4-2 in a frenetic semi-final on Saturday, which saw four goals scored in the last 10 minutes. Vishal Yadav's second-half brace put India in control but Nepal didn't go down easily as they kept shortening the Blue Colts' lead. In the end, goals from substitutes Ningthoukhongjam Rishi Singh and Hemneichung Lunkim sealed the Indian win.

"It became a bit tight towards the end. We should've made sure to kill the game before. But that's football sometimes. You miss chances and the opponents score in the first one they get. But I'm glad we managed to control the game towards the end and scored the fourth goal as well," said Ahmed.

Set-pieces are something India have been excellent with so far. They've scored four goals from dead ball situations so far and Ahmed has been delighted with that.

"We have been working a lot on our set pieces. We scored from a corner against Indonesia also. We have big bodies and we try to utilise that to our advantage. I'm happy with how the boys have been doing, whether it's from set pieces or crosses," he said.

In the second semi-final, Bangladesh showed indomitable spirit as they came from two goals down to level it at 2-2 against Pakistan thanks to Md Manik's 74th and 94th minute goals. They then converted all eight of their penalties to cap off a memorable comeback and enter the final.

"I am proud of my boys with how they performed. That will give us very good confidence," said Bangladesh head coach Saiful Bari Titu.

"India are the defending champions and, undoubtedly, the favourites. They have an edge in technicality and decision making. I think we did okay against India in the first match, but conceded in injury time. We need to be at our best and I think we have the ability. Finals are there to win titles. We cannot be happy to just reach the final. Our goal is to have the trophy," he added.