The Futsal association of India have picked and selected a 12-member strong squad to represent India in the Asociación Mundial de Futsal (AMF)Futsal U-20 Championships 2018 to be held in Valledupar, Columbia.
The championships which will be a 9-days long event starting from November 18 will see India competing against top nations of Futsal like Colombia.
Speaking on the occasion of squad announcement, Namdev Shirgaokar, President Futsal association of India & Jt Secretary Indian Olympic Association said, “We want to see our youth to create history and bring glory to Nation like never before. Gone are the days when different sports were played for recreational purpose or to satisfy the fitness demands. Students across the country have already represented India in the previous years, it’s sad that this isn’t acknowledged. Futsal Association of India wants to give an opportunity to all those heroes to achieve the recognition they deserve and also a platform to the aspiring ballplayers to showcase their talent overseas.”
Discussing India’s chance in the tourney, coach Bishal Chetri sounds hopeful about his young team and feels if the players get successful in holding their opposition and frustrate them by not getting enough chances to score then this ‘underdog’ side has the ability to fire on counters and win matches.
“Definitely we are going as underdogs because a majority of the team participating haven’t seen us play before. But that’s a sort of privilege for us that no one knows about our game plan and I am confident about my players that they are going to perform well.”
“I have told these guys not to allow opposition players dominate over you and score easily. The focus is on having maximum possession of the ball and capitalizes whatsoever chances we get and make it count.”
India has been paired with their South American hosts, Colombia, in Group B along with South Africa & Australia. Group A has Argentina, Catalonia, Morocco & Bolivia while Group C includes Paraguay, Brazil, Italy & USA.
The Squad: Aman Pathania, Sanjay Chopel Bhutia, Boxer Pradhan, Ashwin Rai, Lalremtluanga, Lalruatsanga Chhakchhuak, Vanlalduhsaka Hangsing, Nripendra Venkatakrishnan, Muhammed Basith Hafeez, Allen Ritz, Manikandan Jaganathan, Kedarnath Vasudevan.
