| Target is to win India’s group: Ishfaq Ahmed  India with the SAFF under-16 boys' trophy in 2023. (Source: AIFF) “Srinagar has all four seasons now. Ceiling fans and air-conditioners are becoming part of our lives,” said Ishfaq Ahmed, referring to the maximum temperature passing 35˚Centigrade last week. Holding a training camp there to acclimatise for a tournament in Bhutan seems odd but Ahmed, who has lived in Srinagar all his life, is sure this is a passing phase. The training camp is for the SAFF under-17 championship and for the Asian under-17 qualifiers. It began on Monday with 31 probables, most of them from the 2023-24 under-17 I-League. Ahmed said he knew 90% of the players because they were with him when India won the South Asian championship last year, unbeaten and with a clean sheet in all four games. No losses, a worry For the India under-17 coach, that is a worry. “It is important that they know what it means to lose, what it means to chase a game,” he said, over the phone from Srinagar. To that end, Ahmed said he has asked All India Football Federation (AIFF) to arrange friendlies, “ideally after the SAFF.” Three or four matches before the qualifiers is what he said he is hoping for. “We would like to play stronger teams such as UAE, Iraq, Iran, maybe even Uzbekistan. I am waiting to hear from AIFF,” said Ahmed. Uzbekistan beat former champions England 2-1 in the round of 16 and lost 0-1 to France in the quarter-finals of the 2023 under-17 World Cup in Indonesia. The SAFF is scheduled between September 18 to 28 and the Asian qualifiers from October 19-27. Ahead of the SAFF, Ahmed said he wouldn’t mind playing India under-20 or even “some I-League teams.” Most clubs are yet to start training but playing teams from the Kolkata league is an option.  India under-17 head coach Ishfaq Ahmed (in cap) with staff at Srinagar's Polo Ground. (Source: Ishfaq Ahmed) Ahmed said he is focusing on the new players. “I have tracked the progress of the others since the 2023 SAFF under-16.” The plan is to do that for another 10 days, prune the list and start work on technical training and physical conditioning. While retaining the SAFF is a priority, Ahmed said he would also like to use the only tournament he gets before the qualifiers to try some of the new players. In the qualifiers, India have been grouped with hosts Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and Turkmenistan. The top teams from each of the 10 groups will get a berth in the 2025 finals in Saudi Arabia as will the best five second-placed teams with the hosts completing the 16-team line-up. Ahmed doesn’t know if he will stay for the finals assuming India make it for the fifth successive time. “My contract is till the qualifiers and for now, I am not looking beyond that.” That said, his target is to qualify as group toppers. “Having been with the boys for over one year, I know what they are capable of. With the right preparation, we should be able to make it.” Having taken his AFC professional licence, the highest coaching badge in Asia, Ahmed took charge of Real Kashmir in the 2023-24 I-League. A late slump saw them finish fifth, two points behind Gokulam Kerala who were third. A former midfielder at Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, Ahmed played as wing-back in the 2016 ISL final for Kerala Blasters when he was assistant manager. Barring one season at Jamshedpur FC, Ahmed was assistant at Kerala Blasters from 2015 to 2023. These two assignments will be a test for Ahmed as much as they are for his team. The under-17 is the only Asian competition where India have made the quarter-finals, that is one step from sealing automatic qualification to the age-specific World Cup which is now an annual event.  India under-17 boys training in Srinagar. (Source: Ishfaq Ahmed) Chaubey’s aim Qualifying for the under-17 World Cup has been a target for AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey. To that end, AIFF launched an academy last November in partnership with FIFA. Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, came calling but with most of those chosen not up to scratch, fresh trials had to be called for and only now, over eight months after Wenger’s visit, is the academy is likely to start operations. So, it will be some time before its impact is felt. What also doesn’t help is the lack of a clear pathway for under-17 players especially after the Indian Arrows project was scrapped. Playing I-League and protected from relegation, the Arrows project helped many players from the 2017 under-17 World Cup team grow. They are now regulars in the senior national team. Elsewhere, from the 2017 under-17 World Cup in India, Marc Guehi, Phil Foden, Ferran Torres will be in the squad for 2024 European championship final.  Lamine Yamal's wonder goal (Source: FC Barcelona) We were speaking hours after Lamine Yamal’s wonder strike and Ahmed said what has struck him was the wide midfielder’s physical development. “I was in Japan recently and saw that even in their school teams, there were hardly any small players.” His message to scouts has been: look for tall, strong boys, we will teach them how to play. “It will take time but it will be worth it.” Players not big in size will have to be exceptional to be considered, said Ahmed, 41. It was that for the system that produced Yamal. “Of course, he is phenomenal,” said Ahmed. “But think of the kind of coaching, the kind of off-the-field guidance he must have received to have been able to handle playing for Barcelona and now Spain.” | 
