By IANS,
Tehran: India kick-off their Under-16 Asian Cup football campaign Sunday when they take on Uzbekistan here.
India are set to have a hard time in the tournament with the likes of Japan, the two Koreas, Australia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and China taking part.
India, who earned a ticket for the final phase in October 2011 in Tashkent, have been clubbed with Uzbekistan, Syria and China in Group D.
The top-two from each group qualify for the quarterfinals while the four semi-finalists get a direct entry into the U-17 World Cup. On the surface that means, India are four matches away from a spot in the World Cup.
“We have trained for 73 days abroad for the Championship and have played 24 International matches. This U-16 bunch of ours stays more tactically organised than our U-19 batch,” said former Indian national coach Rustam Akramov, presently the Director of the Uzbekistan team.
“International exposures at this age matters. Uzbekistan go into the match with more confidence than us,” Chief Youth Development coach Colm Joseph Toal told reporters.
“But we will be competitive.”