By Joseph Solomon,
AIFF Media Team

KUALA LUMPUR (MALAYSIA): Malaysia and Mongolia are almost 5,000kms apart. Nothing between the two nations is similar, let alone common tradition.

However, for the Indian Youth Teams currently playing and training in both the nations, the commonality is of epic proportions – an attempt to create a historical footnote in Indian football history.

While the Indian U-16 Boys’ National Team in Malaysia aspires to become the first Indian team to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup (apart from by virtue of being hosts), the Indian U-16 Women’s National Team in Mongolia aims to qualify for the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Finals. Both teams stand united by a single cause.

While the Indian girls have already begun their campaign and have won against Hong Kong and Pakistan, the boys face Vietnam on Friday, September 21 in their first group stage match. Although the teams may be thousands of kilometers apart, hearts of each and every player in either team is wishing for history to be made.

The Head Coaches are no different. “We wish the boys all the very best for their matches in the AFC U-16 Championship Finals and hope that they will create history. The team has the potential to go a long way and I hope they secure qualification,” said India U-16 Girls’ National Team Head Coach Firmin D’Souza.

“We have watched the girls win their first two matches and it was an inspiration to watch them perform in the manner that they did,” said Indian U-16 Boys’ National Team gaffer Bibiano Fernandes. “We wish them all the best and hope that they will make us proud.”

For the players, the story is somewhat the same. “It feels like we are playing when we watch the girls' team play,” said forward Vikram Pratap Singh. “We even watched the match against Pakistan and were happy when we won. Winning against Pakistan always has a different feel to it.”

“We know the potential of the boys’ team and we know they are capable of scripting history,” stated Aveka Singh. “We wish them all the best in their endeavour and hope that they will make us proud.”

They may be thousands of kilometers apart, but the two Indian U-16 teams are certainly united by a single cause.