Riding on the back of two convincing victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh respectively in the group stage, the India team takes on Afghanistan in the second semifinals of the SAFF under-16 football championship here on Sunday.
Going into the knock-out clash, head coach Goutam Ghosh is pleased with the fact that the Indian team has scored six goals, while conceding only one in the two matches it played. “The boys are improving with every game,” Ghosh said. “I said the other day that rectifying the mistakes we committed against Sri Lanka was the main aim. During training on the eve of our match against Bangladesh, I stressed on the weaknesses. It was heartening to see the boys not repeating the same errors and playing to the plan perfectly,” he added.
Further explaining his point, Ghosh said: “I asked the boys not to lose possession of the ball. Against Bangladesh, they kept the ball much better and were passing well. Football is so beautiful that with every game you discover new areas to work upon. Against Afghanistan, the aim remains the same, to work on our weaknesses.”
Afghanistan won one and drew two matches in the group stages, finishing with five points from three outings while India has logged full points.
