Shanmugham Venkatesh said the India under-20 men’s team was confident that FIFA’s suspension would end before the Asian qualifiers in Iraq next month.
“Like everyone connected with football, we were a little disturbed but our training was not affected, not even 1 percent,” said Venkatesh over the phone from Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening after finishing a session.
“Suspension or not, we have to maintain our fitness so there was no option of stopping training,” said the former India midfielder. “And it wasn’t just us. The women’s under-17 team (which will play the World Cup in October) and under-16 boys too didn’t let this affect training.” All teams are in Bhubaneswar.
After Australia pulled out on Friday, India will play Iraq and Kuwait in the qualifiers in Iraq on September 14 and 18. It will be an India team’s first competition after the suspension was lifted on Friday. “Our target stays what it was: to aim for four points and qualify. It becomes more difficult now because we have one game less,” said Venkatesh.
Venkatesh said the squad regrouped for training nearly a fortnight ago. The boys were given a break after winning the SAFF under-20 championship on August 5. It was Venkatesh’s first international title as coach.
The squad trained for 25 days prior to the competition, also in Bhubaneswar, he said. With most of the players from Indian Arrows, the development team of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), Venkatesh said they had a two-month break after the I-League “which we used as international friendlies given that most teams had foreign players.”
Juan Ferrando said he was happy that India are back in FIFA fold which means his team can host the AFC Cup inter-zonal semi-final against Kuala Lumpur City FC at Salt Lake stadium on September 7.
But for now, the ATK Mohun Bagan coach is focussing on Sunday’s grudge game against East Bengal in the 131st Durand Cup; the first derby in Kolkata since January 2020. “We will think about the AFC Cup after that,” said Ferrando.