The India U19 squad landed in Tehran at 16.30 on Friday morning for the AFC U19 Qualifiers which kicks-off on October 31. The squad arrived from Doha where they were based for the last 12 days.

Chief Coach Colm Toal said he was “happy,” to have arrived in Tehran. “It always helps when you come in early. Arriving early has its own advantages,” Colm maintained.

The boys were greeted by rain and temperatures as low as seven degrees which came in sharp contrast to the Doha climate.

“The Camp in Doha was pretty useful. We got to practice on excellent grounds which is very much essential prior to such an important Championship. The boys made full use of the facilities,” Coal added. “We need to make use of the time in Tehran and focus on our first match,” Toal quipped.

The India U19 team even played a practice match in Doha where they beat Al-Rayyan U19 team 4-1. Brandon Fernandes scored a hat-trick while Johny Chand Singh scored the other.

India who have been clubbed in Group C with hosts Iran, strong contenders Uzbekistan, dark horses Turkmenistan and arch-rivals Pakistan have been drawn to play their first match against play their first match against Turkmenistan on October 31.

The boys were given a day’s rest to overcome from the jet lag and will resume their practice session from Saturday.

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INDIA U19 SQUAD

Goalkeepers
Ravi Kumar, Albino Gomes, Md. Moniruzzaman Ansari

Defenders
Bikramjit Singh, Sonu, Arijeet Singh, Pawan Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Pritam Kotal, Edwin, Narayan Das

Midfielders
Sehnaj Singh, Prabir Das, Pranoy Halder, Johnny Chand Singh, Tirthankar Sarkar, Sunny, Anto Xavier, Brandon Fernandes

Forwards
Holicharan Narzary, Sumit Passi, Rajinder Kumar, Malswamfela

Officials
Colm Joseph Toal (Chief Coach), Francisco Bruto Da Costa (Assistant Coach), Syed Shabbir Pasha (Assistant Coach), Feroze Sheriff (Goalkeeping Coach), Vijayan Inian Lenin (Physio), CM Ranjith (Manager)

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FIXTURES

October 31 (Kick-off: 18.30 local / IST: 20.30 IST)
India vs Turkmenistan

November 2 (Kick-off: 18.30 local / IST: 20.30 IST)
Iran vs India

November 4 (Kick-off: 15.30 local / IST: 17.30 IST)
India vs Uzbekistan

November 8 (Kick-off: 15.30 local / IST: 17.30 IST)
Pakistan vs India

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(AIFF Press Release)