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The India U20 men's team is set to leverage their blend of experience and creativity as they prepare for their first Group B match of the SAFF U20 Championship against Bhutan.
The match will take place on the artificial turf of the ANFA Complex on Monday, August 19, 2024, at 2:45 pm IST, and will be streamed live on the Sportzworkz YouTube channel. The Indian team arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, a day after India's 77th Independence Day and have since been rigorously preparing for the upcoming challenge, with two training sessions already completed in the capital. Indian team head coach Ranjan Chaudhuri stated, as quoted from AIFF, "We have been preparing hard in Goa for the last two months, and the time is almost here for the opening challenge. We are the defending champions of the SAFF U20 Championship; it obviously motivates us a great deal," as quoted by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). "The game against Bhutan will be an important outing for us, the first match of a tournament always is," he added. Midfielder Akash Tirkey believes that the two months of training in Goa have significantly enhanced the team's fitness and on-field chemistry, putting them in strong shape ahead of the Championship. "We have practiced hard and seriously during our two-month camp in Goa, and I can just see that all of us are raring to go," said Akash. "The whole team have learned a lot from our coaches over this period. Now, all that's left for us to do is to play well, and get the win against Bhutan," he added. Many of the players in the current India U20 squad faced Bhutan two years ago in the SAFF U17 Championship, where they secured a 3-0 victory in Sri Lanka. "We have nine players who have played this tournament before at the lower age groups, and it will be important to use their experience against our opponents," said head coach Ranjan Chaudhuri. Goalkeeper Sahil, who maintained a clean sheet against Bhutan in the SAFF U17 Championship 2022, emphasized the crucial significance of winning the first match of a tournament. "Back in 2022, when we played Bhutan, we had just come into the national team, and none of us had the experience of playing international football even at the junior level," he said "They played a lot of short passes and managed their possessional build-up very well, but we fought hard and were able to win the match 3-0 in the end," Sahil added. "That victory gave us the confidence that we could produce such results at the international level too. That's why we must get three points in our first match," he noted. Forward Thanglalsoun Gangte, who scored a brace against the same team, his first strike in an official junior international match. "The scoreline may look like a comfortable win for us, but it was not an easy match by any stretch of the imagination. I scored two goals early in the game, but then we had to constantly protect ourselves against their threat," Gangte said. Bhutan's U20 midfielder and captain, Pema Zangpo, knows that India is a strong team but his team is also ready to give a tough challenge. "India is definitely a good team and a strong side on paper. But we are not scared of them. the boys are in a good place mentally, and we will try our best against them," said Pema Zangpo. (ANI)
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