India U17 gear up for Indonesia challenge in Bali

The Indian men's U17 team is gearing up to face Indonesia in two friendly matches in Bali on Sunday and next Tuesday.

On Friday night the Blue Colts played a practice match against local side Bali United FC U20 at the Samudra Kuta Stadium, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Mohammad Sami and Mohammad Arbash scored the goals for India.

Coached by Ishfaq Ahmed, India U17s are preparing for next month's SAFF U17 Championship, to be held in Bhutan, and the subsequent AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, which will be hosted by Thailand in October.

They had been training in Srinagar for over a month and a half before their trip to Indonesia.

"We tried and tested our entire squad in yesterday's practice match," said Ahmed.

"The main eleven only played in the last 25 minutes. The other players got the chance to play and I'm really happy about that.

"Bali United are one of the top teams here and they had five players from the Indonesia national U20 team, so we could compete physically with them and judge our level.

"The training facilities here are nice. Everything has been top class, which is ideal for us to prepare for the main tournaments coming up. The climate is pleasant. The hosts have been really helpful, accommodating all our requests. So far, so good here," the coach added.

It would perhaps come as a surprise but there isn't much difference in temperatures between Srinagar and Bali, which ranges between 20 to 25 degrees celsius at this time of the year.

However, being an island, Bali is more humid. The Blue Colts have also had to adjust from training in the artificial pitch at the TRC Ground in Srinagar to the natural grass pitches in Indonesia, but that isn't much of an issue, according to Ahmed.

The SAFF U17 Championship will take place on an artificial pitch at the Changlimithang Stadium, while AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers will be held on natural grass at the Chonburi Stadium.

After a couple of days on the island of Bali, Ahmed and his boys are eager for the Indonesian challenge.

Highlighting how crucial it is to play such friendly matches, Ahmed said, "I think it's extremely important for our players to get exposure against some of the best teams in the region. The Indonesian age-group teams are doing really well. This is the kind of competition we will face in the future." The matches will be held at the Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium in Gianyar.