India Under 19 coach and head coach of AIFF Elite Academy, Flyod Pinto who will lead the team at the SAFF Championships and AFC Under 19 Championship qualifiers has expressed confidence about the young guns excelling at the twin tournaments
MARGAO
India Under 19 coach and head coach of AIFF Elite Academy, Floyd Pinto who will lead the team at the SAFF Championships and AFC Under 19 Championship qualifiers has expressed confidence about the young guns excelling at the twin tournaments.
Pinto has been with the team for three years and the Mumbai-born coach is pleased with the progress of the team so far.
"We've been on the right path of preparations, the upcoming SAFF Championship in September in Bhutan and later the most important AFC Qualifiers in November has been our priority to achieve success. The boys have worked hard and are putting in hours of hardwork and this attitude of the team is a positive sign for better things to come," stated Pinto, a FC A Licence holder, whose Under 19 team is all set to participate inthe Independence Cup, begining on July 27 in Mizoram and the team leaves today.
"This will be a good assessment of the squad before the team heads to Bhutan for the SAFF Championship in September," explained Pinto.
"The AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers are in November and this tournament will certainly help us to evaluate and cut down the squad to the desired number," he explained.
"The focus is mainly to acclimatise and get used to the conditions in a higher altitude. The training is designed to increase stamina and strength," added Pinto. "It is very similar to Bhutan and only the fittest will survive and make the final squad for Saudi Arabia but the boys are up for the challenge."
The Elite Academy U-19 team is scheduled to play in the Mizoram Independence Cup, after which it travels to Bhutan for the SAFF Championship and then finally to Saudi Arabia in November for their 2018 AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers opener against Saudi Arabia on November 4.
Most of the Under 19 boys players are selected from the AIFF Academies and one Goan player is included in the squad along with Assistant coach Kanan Priolkar, former Sesa Goa midfielder.
The India colts previously participated in Kolkata's IFA Shield and Flyod Pinto also had no worries of any injuries to his boys.
"Till today, every player in the squad is very fit and waiting to prove their mettle. We need fit and strong players as we will have to compete against Saudia Arabia in the AFC under 19 Championship qualifiers and we've seen the Saudis last year in AFC Under 16 Cup championship in Goa and I can feel that we had equal chance to upset them and move up," Pinto said while exuding confidence.
The India Colts coach chose Goa as the base for the three weeks training considering the football environs and the neutral climate of the land. He also took the advice of India national coach Stephen Constantine on the rigours of India football but the former Kenkre FC footballer who had a brief career with the Mumbai outfit informed about driving inspiration from Aditya Kenkre, the boss of Kenkre FC and Kenkre Football Academy for acheiving success.
As a coach, Floyd Pinto helped Kenkre FC qualify for the I-League second division with a distinctive record of leading the "youngest team in the league" in 2010.
He also ensured the Kenkre FC U-17 had the honour of becoming the youngest team to attain promotion in the Mumbai League, besides finishing as runners-up at the Costa Blanca Cup in Spain with the Kenkre FC U-13s in 2013.
