India will face Syria in their first match of the tournament on Wednesday. (Source: File)
The current in-charge of the India U-23 side and Indian national football team coach Stephen Constantine focuses more on ‘long-term goals’ than going for immediate results in the upcoming AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers, which will start in Doha on Wednesday.
India will face Syria in their first match of the tournament on Wednesday. Ahead of the match, Constantine said in the pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, “I’ve been a person who has always preferred to build a team for the future. I’m working with this bunch of guys so that a few may come up the ranks and land up with the senior national team in the coming days.”
India U-23 side had a two-week long camp in New Delhi, which was later followed by two international friendly matches against Singapore, before heading into the AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers.
Syria was the finalist in last year’s AFC U-23 Championship, but their campaign was not as impressive as they expected.
“This tournament is of immense importance for us and I believe, as it is for every team here. We’ll give our best to qualify from this group,” Syrian coach Hussein Afash said.
