SAFF Championship triumph a demonstration of Indian football’s growth in stature, says Shaji Prabhakaran

New Delhi: India’s recent success in international events is a demonstration of the growth in stature of the country’s football, the All-India Football Federation Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran has said, lauding the Blue Tigers for their “level of execution” in the Intercontinental Cup and the SAFF Championship.

The Indian football team completed two successful months in the two tournaments, extending their unbeaten run to 11 matches.

“The team is eager to perform on the pitch, which is evident from the kind of football we saw them play. I don’t know when was the last time we saw such a level of execution. The confidence, the movement, and the team spirit were simply amazing. All thanks to the players, the coach, and the support staff,” Prabhakaran was quoted as saying by the-aiff.com.

The SAFF Championship, for the first time, had teams from outside the South Asian region, with Lebanon and Kuwait taking part, and the AIFF Secretary-General felt that this was something that further highlighted the improvement of the team.

“The SAFF Championship demonstrated that we have grown in terms of our status. Our ranking also improved at the same time, taking us to 100. Now it is on us to take the momentum forward and continue to engage with our stakeholders.”

The Indian national teams, across age groups, have exhibited a marked improvement in their performance, which was amply visible in the U-17s too, in their AFC U-17 Asian Cup campaign, as they performed admirably against teams like Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Japan, said a report on the AIFF website.

“Our U-17 team recently played in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup in Thailand and had put in some very good performances despite being in a tough group. We drew against Vietnam and lost to strong Uzbekistan and Japan sides. In fact, the 4-8 loss to Japan saw our boys fight an admirable battle against a side that went on to become champions. No other side was able to score that many goals against Japan,” he said.

“This once again demonstrated that we have the talent, passion, and commitment and that we can also deliver,” said Prabhakaran.

“Now what we need is to bridge the gap in our competitive youth structure. That is why we have decided that from this season, we will have the U-13, U-15, and U-17 leagues,” he added.

In the report, Prabhakaran highlighted the various steps taken by the AIFF following the decisions taken after the General Body Meeting in Bengaluru, including the induction of five new clubs in the I-League.

–IANS