The U-17 World Cup is knocking at the door as India will be hosting a FIFA World Cup for the very first time.
India have announced a 21-member squad for the U-17 tournament. The young guns will not only carry the hopes and dreams of 1.3 billion Indians on their shoulders, but they will also be the first footballers to represent their country in a FIFA World Cup.
Now let’s meet the young guns…
1) Dheeraj Singh
Position: Goalkeeper
DOB: July 4, 2000 – Moirang Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Petr Cech
Favourite Teams: Bengaluru FC, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
2) Prabhsukhan Gill
Position: Goalkeeper
DOB: January 1, 2001 – Ludhiana, Punjab
Favourite Footballers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Gigi Buffon
Favourite Teams: Bengaluru FC, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
3) Boris Singh
Position: Defender
DOB: January 3, 2000 – Imphal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Udanta Singh, Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite Teams: NorthEast United, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
4) Jitendra Singh
Position: Defender
DOB: June 13, 2001 – Kolkata, West Bengal
Favourite Footballers: Sunil Chettri, Arturo Vidal[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
5) Anwar Ali
Position: Defender
DOB: August 28, 2000 – Jalandhar, Punjab
Favourite Footballers: Sandesh Jhingan, Sergio Ramos
Favourite Teams: Delhi Dynamos, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
6) Sanjeev Stalin
Position: Defender
DOB: January 17, 2001 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Favourite Footballers: Stalin Sr., Diego Maradona
Favourite Teams: Lucky Star, Arsenal[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
7) Hendry Antonay
Position: Defender
DOB: May 22, 2000 – Bengaluru, Karnataka
Favourite Footballers: Rino Alto, Marcelo
Favourite Teams: Bengaluru FC, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
8) Suresh Singh
Position: Midfielder
DOB: August, 2000 – Imphal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Milan Singh, Toni Kroos
Favourite Teams: NorthEast United, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
9) Ninthoinganba Meetei
Position: Midfielder
DOB: July 13, 2001 – Imphal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Sunil Chhetri, Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite Teams: Bengaluru FC, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
10) Amrjit Singh Kiyam
Position: Midfielder
DOB: January 6, 2001 – Thoubal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Udanta Singh, Andres Iniesta
Favourite Teams: NorthEast United, Barcelona[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
11) Abhijit Sarkar
Position: Midfielder
DOB: January 5, 2000 – Kalyani, West Bengal
Favourite Footballers: Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite Teams: ATK, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
12) Komal Thatal
Position: Midfielder
DOB: September 9, 2000 – Nathang, Sikkim
Favourite Footballers: Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Philippe Coutinho
Favourite Teams: NorthEast United, Barcelona[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
13) Lalengmawia
Position: Midfielder
DOB: October 17, 2000 – Aizawl, Mizoram
Favourite Footballers: Lalrandika Ralte, Lionel Messi
Favourite Teams: Aizawl FC, Barcelona[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
14) Jeakson Singh
Position: Midfielder
DOB: June, 2001 – Thoubal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Baichung Bhutia, Sergio Busquets
Favourite Teams: Bengaluru FC, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
15) Nongdamba Naorem
Position: Midfielder
DOB: January 2, 2000 – Imphal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Jackichand Singh, Antoine Griezmann
Favourite Teams: NorthEast United, Manchester United[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
16) Rahul Kannoly Praveen
Position: Midfielder
DOB: March 16, 2000 – Thrissur, Kerala
Favourite Footballers: I.M Vijayan, Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite Teams: Churchill Brothers, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
17) Md. Shahjahan
Position: Midfielder
DOB: October 3, 2000 – Imphal, Manipur
Favourite Footballers: Sunil Chhetri, Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite Teams: Bengaluru FC, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
18) Rahim Ali
Position: Srtiker
DOB: April 1, 2000 – Barrackpore, West Bengal
Favourite Footballers: Sunil Chhetri, Cristiano Ronaldo
Favourite Teams: Mohun Bagan, Real Madrid[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
19) Aniket Jadhav
Position: Striker
DOB: July 13, 2000 – Kolhapur, Maharashtra
Favourite Footballers: C.K Vineeth, Neymar
Favourite Teams: Pune FC, Barcelona[espl_divider style=”dotted”]
To increase the depth of the squad, head coach Luis Norton de Matos has also introduced two NRIs in the final squad.
Namit Deshpande and goalkeeper Sunny Dhaliwal will be the first NRIs to play for the Indian team.
In order to prepare the team for the upcoming tough challenges, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) had facilitated exposure tours for the India U-17s. The young guns locked horns with Macedonia, Serbia and Benfica and a host of other teams.
The boys also participated in a four-nation tournament in Mexico where they suffered defeats against Mexico and Colombia, but clinched a 1-1 draw against Chile despite having a player sent off.
The World Cup will begin from October 6 and will be held across six cities. India are in Group A alongside Colombia, Ghana and USA. The Indian colts will take on USA on October 6, followed by clashes against Colombia and Ghana on October 9 and October 12 respectively at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
You can watch the high-octane U-17 FIFA World Cup action LIVE on Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 3.