india u-19 football team coach prepares his team for tourney in spain
CHARLES D’SOUZA
MARGAO
India national under-19 football team coach Floyd Pinto has expressed confidence about the young guns excelling in the COTIF Cup – the Mini Mundial sub-20 men’s football tournament to be held in Spain from July 29.
India will take on South American football powerhouses, Argentina and Venezuela, and African minnows Mauritania, and local side Murcia in the five-team tournament, which is a tune-up event for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2019 qualifiers.
Pinto has been with the team for four years and the Mumbai-born coach is pleased with the progress of the team so far. “We’ve been on the right path in our preparations for the upcoming COTIF Cup. The boys have worked hard and put in a lot of effort. The attitude shown by this team is a positive sign for better things to come,” Pinto said.
Pinto, who has taken over the reins of Indian Arrows following the departure of Luis Norton de Matos, said the tournament in Spain will help him evaluate the team better. “The COTTF tournament will certainly help us to evaluate the whole squad. Every player is very fit and waiting to prove their mettle and they will get a chance to compete against very high quality teams in the tournament,” said Pinto, who holds an AFC A Licence.”We will be retaining the core of the squad which played the World Cup. This squad will include the 2000-born boys. The 1999-born boys have gone back,” Pinto added. The team will depart for Spain
on July 20.
India’s fixtures
in COTIF Cup
July 29 - India U-20 vs Murcia U-20, July 31 - India U-20 vs Mauritania U-20, August 3 - India U-20 vs Venezuela U-20, August 5 - India U-20 vs Argentina U-20.
