Soumo Ghosh
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: The time is “prime”, as the India U20 Men’s National Team aim to shine in next month’s SAFF U20 Championship in Nepal.

It has been around two months since the team have been together, though the real preparation started in early July, after a month of trials. With his prospective players narrowed down, India U20 head coach Ranjan Chaudhuri is looking to iron out the rough edges.

“We are working on the finer points that will get the boys ready for the challenge ahead at the SAFF Championship,” Chaudhuri said to the-aiff.com from the team’s camp in Goa.

“We have identified the areas where the players have faced some difficulties and are working on them at the moment. Areas like distribution, effectiveness in the attacking third, crossing and finishing,” said Chaudhuri. “These are the areas that are essential, especially in match situations. No matter how good you are, a little extra improvement never hurts anyone.”

Earlier this month, the India U20s had travelled to Bellary, Karnataka, where they could avail the world-class facilities of the Inspire Institute of Sport, having trained there for a week, including a couple of training games. The team also had the opportunity to meet the stars of the Bengaluru FC senior team, who were also having their pre-season at the same venue.

“The boys have gained a lot of motivation and confidence from this week in Bellary. We need to ensure that we now build on this momentum and continue to grow as a team,” said Chaudhuri. “The boys also got a lot of praise from Bengaluru FC head coach (Gerard Zaragoza), who expressed how well organised our boys were, and Gurpreet (Singh Sandhu) had a lot of good words for our goalkeepers too.”

Now back in Goa, the India U20s have resumed their preparations for the SAFF U20 Championship, where India have been drawn in Group B alongside Bhutan (August 19) and the Maldives (August 23). While they are keeping an eye on their opponents, the focus for the U20s remains on their own preparedness.

“We have seen how these players have fared in previous competitions. However, these are junior teams, so a lot could change over a year or two, so we need to be prepared for anything,” he said. “Some of our players have played the SAFF competitions before, so they are using that experience to help the others as well.

“The challenge for us is to get them up to a competitive level. We will work on our deficiencies in Goa, and are also looking to play a few practice matches here, which would further help the boys,” said he.

(Photos Courtesy: JSW Sports Media)