Indonesia tour 'eye-opener' ahead of Asian Cup qualifiers, says U17 coach Ishfaq Ahmed

New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) The India U17 men's team have returned to their base in Srinagar after a satisfactory tour of Indonesia, where the they recorded a win in their second and last friendly match after losing the opener against the hosts.

Head coach Ishfaq Ahmed is happy to have a couple of international matches under their belt ahead of the SAFF U17 Championship and the AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

After going down 1-3 to the Indonesian national U17 team last Sunday, India responded with an improved showing, winning 1-0 in the second friendly on Tuesday thanks to Brahmacharimayum Sumit Sharma's goal.

"I am happy that we got these kinds of matches against a good-quality Asian team. The Indonesian age-group teams are doing wonderful recently. Just yesterday their U20s beat Argentina 2-1. That shows their quality in football. We wanted to compete against an opposition like that," said Ahmed.

"Our players were able to compare and see for themselves what's the intensity of matches at this level. This was the first time this batch played some international friendlies and for the players and me, as a coach, it's an eye-opener on what kind of opponents we'll get in the Asian Cup Qualifiers. We need to have such competitive matches if we want to improve."

Reflecting on what went wrong in the first loss, Ahmed observed that his boys weren't comfortable on the pitch and struggled to settle in the new environment. For almost the entire squad, it was their first-ever match outside the Indian subcontinent. India were made to chase from the get-go after trailing via an early penalty. While Levis Zangminlun's goal reduced the deficit in the second half, Indonesia proved too strong in the end and ran out 3-1 winners in Bali.

"I think we were nervous in the first game. Some of the boys were playing an international match for the first time. They got in their shell and didn't perform as per expectations. Indonesia, on the other hand, had played against the likes of Australia and Vietnam in the ASEAN U16 Championship before that. We took time to adjust away from home against a quality team. To be honest, we did create plenty of chances in that game, we could've even taken the lead but that's okay. We did a lot of work after the first loss. The boys need to understand what we can afford and what we can't because the margin of error in these kinds of matches is very small," explained Ahmed.

However, the story of the second match panned out quite differently. India aimed to take control from the start and held possession. Sumit Sharma's header from a corner proved to be the solitary goal, earning the Blue Colts a deserved win.

"I am glad the boys were more confident in the second match. I only made one change due to an injury, bringing on Yaipharemba (Chingkham) in place of Usham (Thoungamba). All our substitutes in the second half also did quite well. We received praise from their coach and the local media too. For us, it was a learning curve and a reality check," said Ahmed.

While India created plenty of opportunities in both games, the defence remained watertight in the second one, which wasn't the case in the first owing to poor defensive shape. Credit also goes to goalkeeper Aheibam Suraj Singh who pulled off some magnificent saves in one-on-one situations in both matches.

"Overall, I am happy. We had a tactical discussion after dissecting the first match and on the things which went wrong and what we could've done better. We matched them physically. Still, there were a few mistakes but that's normal if we play against such quality teams. All in all, it was a much-improved performance in the second game. We ended with a fantastic away win. Beating Indonesia at their home is not easy," he elaborated.

Before the trip to Indonesia, Ahmed stated that the target was to judge where they stand as a team, with competitive matches on the horizon, most importantly, the AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers. For now, India's focus shifts to defending their SAFF U17 Championship crown in Thimphu next month.

"We will now also prepare for a plan B. We want to keep a reserve plan ready with a different formation. We want to keep the players match fit, and give chances to those who didn't get minutes in Indonesia," said Ahmed.