Kuala Lumpur, 24 October 1998 - India became the first team to leave for home from the ongoing 31st Asian Youth Championship in Chiangmai, Thailand. But in parting this morning, the Indians left not in shame but with a warning to the Asian Football fraternity that they will be hearing more of them in the near future.
India lost it's group matches against Kazakhstan, Thailand and Saudi Arabia while finishing their last match against Kuwait with a 1-1 draw. In the defeats, there was no shame. In the last drawn match, there was much applause. The Indian boys put on a performance that showed they were a side whose full potential had yet to be realized. With just 20 days of training after the qualifying round, the players still managed to give all the other teams a run for their money. What they clearly lacked was match exposure in playing teams outside of India. That would explain the nervous start against Kazakhstan which saw them lose 2-3, the subsequent 4-0 loss to Thailand and then the close 0-2 defeat to Saudi Arabia. Scores aside, the Indian team showed confidence and tactical maturity with each passing game.
Indian Coach Mohammed Habeeb says he will recommend to the All-India Football Federation that the team be kept together and developed for the future. "I am thinking about the under-23 tournaments such as the Olympics."
"These players can form the nucleus of any national side to be developed. They are all very talented but need more exposure especially in playing teams and tournaments overseas to give them edge in competition," Habeeb stated. Ten of the players in the Asian Youth side are the product of the Tata Football Academy situated in Jamshedpur, a city renown for having one of the largest steel factories in the world.
Those from the Tata Football Academy were recruited at 14 and spent four years before being released to play for clubs in the Indian national league.
Habeeb himself was a player of repute. The former striker not only turned out for the Indian national side but also for the Asian all-stars side of 1970 and featured in the Asian Games of 1966, 1970 and 1974. Now, Habeeb is playing a major role in the development of Indian football and he declares with pride that 75% of those he trained are now playing in the Indian league. "India is bursting with talent. We just need to identify and develop them property. For me, the Asian Youth tournament is Chiangmai can prove to be a point for Indian football to do better in the future," Habeeb declared.