CALCUTTA (India): India has a mountain to climb when they take on hosts and defending champions Saudi Arabia in their second match at the AFC U-19 Championships 2020 Qualifiers on Friday.
Floyd Pinto’s side has lost to Uzbekistan 2-0 in their Group F match on Wednesday.
“It was not the result that we wanted, but there’s no time to sulk on the first loss,” Pinto said on AIFF website. “We’ve to pick up and dust ourselves off. The players are determined to do everything it takes to win the next match.”
The reigning champions picked up three points against Afghanistan.
“It’ll be a difficult game, but the team can rally together and gain a positive result,” he added.
Pinto stressed on the importance of keeping composure in the match.
“I’m confident the players will recover from the defeat against Uzbekistan and will put their best foot forward.”
The 11 group winners and four best runners-up will join hosts Uzbekistan in next October’s Finals.
Should hosts Uzbekistan emerge group winners or are among the best four runners-up, the fifth best second-placed team will advance to the 2020 Finals, scheduled for October 14-31.
Tajikistan have already qualified as Group C winners while Group G kicked off on Saturday.
Group A Qualifiers featuring Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Kuwait and Pakistan has been postponed with new dates to be announced in due course.
“Even though Saudis won (against Afghanistan) 1-0 through a penalty, they dominated the game from start to finish. It’ll be a difficult game for us,” said Jitendra Singh, who led India to SAFF U18 title earlier this year.
