Kolkata: The India U-16 football team are on a high after brushing aside Palestine 3-0 in their opening match of the U-16 AFC qualifiers. But coach Bibiano wants the team to be ‘cautious’ as they prepare themselves to take on the hosts Nepal at the Halchowk stadium, on Friday.
Calling Nepal a strong side, Bibiano Fernandes, as quoted by a release, said, “There’s no room for complacency, we know each other with both teams having played in the recently concluded U-15 SAFF Championship.”
He further added, “They will be backed by a partisan crowd and it will be a challenge for us. Everybody saw what we are capable of but we can’t afford to be complacent.”
Having defeated Nepal twice in the recently concluded U-15 SAFF Championships, India are the automatic choice for the win, but Bibiano feels all the past matches are done and dusted. This match will be a new one and will have no past effects.
He said, “We won’t have any advantage over Nepal. Although we beat them twice recently, it won’t have any effect on tomorrow’s game and everyone should start afresh.”
The Indian team created a host of opportunities in their match against Palestine and the coach informed that the boys have all the potential to win the upcoming match against Nepal. “At times, we were shaky the other day but at the end of the game, we won the game convincingly,” he said.
“I have full faith in my squad who have created so many opportunities throughout the game. We had an ideal start in the tournament but the target is far away. We aim to continue the winning momentum and prefer to take one match at a time,” he added.
Nepal head coach Sunil Kumar Shrestha also lavished praise on the Indian team.
Praising India’s recent run of good form in football. Sunil Kumar stated that “India have been going through a good phase right now and they were clearly the deserving champions in the SAFF U-15 tournament.”
But he also warned his opposition on Friday saying, “We will try to play our natural football to spoil their party tomorrow.”
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