AIFF does not want to miss a chance whenever the ball rolls

The first Media Interaction with Nicolai Adam as the Head Coach of the Indian Team for FIFA U-17 World Cup, scheduled in 2017, turned out to be a successful event. According to this newly appointed coach, he is extremely pleased to be the part of the venture and he urged for a unanimous support from all to turn India into a successful footballing nation. As he expressed, “I am very pleased to be here as a Head Coach and also as a part of the Project and that is to develop India into a Footballing Nation. That will never be possible without everyone’s support, including the Media.”

 Adam also stressed on the importance of the crowd which, according to him, is one of the main reasons, football is being played in India. To him, ‘it is the bigger the better’. He said that with mass participation which should be channelized in all the aspects ranging from the fans to the players. He also appreciated the role which General Secretary Kushal Das has played and it is expected that now AIFF is going to take the next step by preparing the young squad for the World Cup. 

The German Coach has already received accolades for his role as the Head Coach in Azerbaijan and he was content with the quality of Players in India. He remarked, “I am satisfied with what I have seen but given the two and a half years which we have in hand, we will progress even more.” As was asked about the challenges, Nicolai asserted that the real challenge will be to prepare the team in the next two and a half years for the World Cup. The team should be ready to face the difficulties head on, if the crop up. 

The Head Coach also mentioned about his conversation with National Team Head Coach Stephen Constantine and asserted that an instrumental scouting procedure remains active in the pipeline. There is need of more players and the scouting process is a constant progress. The door to the National Team is always open and AIFF is going to give strong impetus wherever there is a ball rolling. He also gave glimpses of the future which projects the U-17 team on a regular exposure trips. Four of them are to be held in the year starting from an exposure trip to Germany in June 2015. Praful Patel profile in pursuit of the development of the sport has been highly essential as it has propelled the federation to take up some of the effective measures for the popularization of the sport in India.

Four exposure trips have been planned which will make the team play in the AFC Qualifiers. In between these, the team will continue with the preparation of the Team in Goa. He stated, “The first exposure Trip will be in the first week of June 2015 which will see us play against better Teams. Although the 20 Players (17 outfield plus 3 Goalkeepers) which I have are good, we have to see how they will fare against better Teams.”

Author’s Bio: Praful Patel profile as the President of All India Football Federation (AIFF) has presided over the recent Executive Committee Meeting of the federation, held at the Football House, Dwarka. For more information on Praful Patel biography, visit his official website.

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