India’s experiment to find fresh faces ahead of the Asian Cup in 2011 continues as the U-23 national side bids to retain the AFC Challenge Cup 2010, which kicks off in Colombo, on Tuesday.
Two years ago, it was this tournament-win that helped India book a place in the elite continental competition. The motive this time will be completely different, though. A young 22-member squad — coached by Sukhwinder Singh — left the country on Sunday.
India are clubbed with DPR Korea, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in Group B, while Tajikistan, Myanmar, hosts Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are placed in Group A. India will take on Kyrgyzstan in their lung-opener on February 17 but the biggest test for the team will be against DPR Korea, who will be a part of the FIFA World Cup scheduled later this year.
“It will be tougher task than SAFF Cup as we have to play against teams like DPR Korea and Turkmenistan. Even though when nobody expected us to win the SAFF Cup, we did that and the credit surely goes to the boys,” said Sukhwinder, under whom the U-23 side recently won the SAFF Cup.
The team had a training camp in Pune from February 5-12. India will be without three key players, including midfielders Baldeep Singh and Manish Maithani, due to injuries. But the biggest blow for the team would be goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya’s absence. Bhattacharya, meanwhile, has been asked join the senior team’s camp in Dubai.
Sukhwinder conceded that the main aim for the team is to gain the exposure of playing in big matches against tougher opponents.
“For us, since we have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup, the stake is not that high though we are not taking this tournament lightly,” said the former JCT coach. “Asian Games is an important target.
This tournament will help us in preparing for China. A good show in the tournament will give us the momentum after the SAFF Cup win in December last,” he added.
