India U-19 team to play two friendlies with Serbia
Indian U-19 football team has been scheduled to play two friendly matches against the U-19 team of Serbia on September 13 and 17. The two matches has been organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in coordination with SAI to provide exposure to the U-19 team for the upcoming season.
After participating in a four-nation tournament involving France, Croatia, and Slovenia, India's U-19 side would next play against Serbia. With the I-League season approaching and U-19 AFC Championship next year, the arrangement of these matches will be expected to help the team in preparing.
National team director Abhishek Yadav has been of the opinion that frequently playing against the top 50 teams in the Fifa rankings would give the Indian colts a lot of exposure, which would help the team grow.
“Serbia will be the fifth top-50 team (as per the Fifa rankings) that we will be facing within a month-and-a-half. In a 50-day period, we will be competing in six matches against regular World Cuppers from the two continents of world football – South America and Europe,” Yadav told PTI.
“The matches have been part of competitions so there has been that added edge. The players and our all-Indian staff are learning from these tough tests. Motivation levels are now much higher. I am satisfied with the way we were able to design this pre-season and this is the way we aim to continue,” he added.
Prior to the four-nation tournament in Croatia, Indian U-19 team participated in the COTIF Cup in Spain. In the tournament, Indian squad managed to overwhelm U-20 Argentina team by 2-1, while holding Venezuela to a draw, without any goals being scored from both the sides.
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