NEW DELHI: An immediate aim for the
Indian Arrows hierarchy
is to get the players ready for the qualification rounds of the 2023 AFC under-20 Asian Cup, says head coach
Venkatesh Shanmugam
. The Arrows are currently undergoing quarantine in Kolkata ahead of the 2020/21 season of the
I-League
beginning on January 9.
Arrows faced Churchill Brothers in their first match on January 10 in a tournament that was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are preparing for the u-19 AFC qualifying round in 2022. Whatever tournaments we are playing are all part of the preparation," said Shanmugam in a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
The qualification matches for the 2023 tournament are currently scheduled to be played from September 10 to 18, 2022.
"Getting a chance to play in the I-League is a big thing for the u-17 players. In the upcoming year, they will get more experience and at the end of the day I want to see more of our players in the next level, like in the bigger clubs and the senior Indian teams," said Shanmugam.
The Arrows, which is a developmental team of the
All India Football Federation
(AIFF) comprising players constituting India's u-17 squad, was revived in the 2017/18 I-League. A previous iteration of the team played as the Pailan Arrows for three seasons 2010 and 2013 and featured the likes of Jeje Lalpekhlua and Gurpree Singh Sandhu, India's first choice goalkeeper. Most of the first batch that played the 2017/18 season have since made their way into teams currently playing in the
Indian Super League (ISL).
"It is our vision to give a platform to young players the platform, it is a developmental team. Players like Aakash Mishra, Vikram Pratap, are all in ISL teams and doing well. The boys in this team have real potential and will do well in the future," said Shanmugam.
"Senior players like Gurpreet, Pritam Kotal, Jeje, they were all part of the Arrows. This year a lot of the boys have a great potential and definitely they will do well."
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