By Shraishth Jain,

AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Sir Alex Ferguson once famously said: "Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles." The Indian football team, which is set to take part at the upcoming AFC U-16 Championships 2018 in September, will look to follow the same principle in order to reach the last stages of the competition.

Defence will hold the key for the young Blue Tigers and one of the crucial players at the back will be Bikash Yumnam, who hails from Manipur. "I really admire Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk," Yumnam said when asked about his playing role models, before adding, "Among the Indian players, my favourite is Chinglensana Singh."

The 15-year-old was called up to the national U-16 team in May and he admitted that it was an emotional moment for him. "My favourite memory has to be wearing the Indian jersey for the first time. I was just overcome with joy. Another great moment was winning the four-nation tournament in Serbia, where we remained unbeaten in all three games," he recalls.

Apart from his defensive prowess, Yumnam is also a handful for the opposition with his set-piece abilities. He said, "I enjoy taking free-kicks for my team and have scored and created a number of goals from dead-ball situations. My favourite was when I scored with a free-kick against Odisha and we went on to win 5-0."

With the crucial tournament coming up, he stressed on the importance of being solid in defence in order to make sure the team achieves its targets. "We want to qualify for the World Cup next year," said Yumnam. "To reach the last four, we have to ensure that we remain confident and defend smartly."

The Indian team kicks off its campaign against Vietnam on September 21 and in the next two matches, they will take on Iran and Indonesia.