AFC U-16 PREVIEW: India look to make amends against Saudi Arabia

Courtesy: AIFF

Margao: India will look to put behind the disappointment of their opening match loss to United Arab Emirates and get their act together when they take on Saudi Arabia in their second group A of the AFC U-16 here tomorrow.

India had started off well in the last match but failed to sustain the momentum and eventually succumbed to a 2-3 defeat.

India coach Nicolai Adam said that the team is keen to win and will put its best foot forward tomorrow.

"The atmosphere after the opening match was not good. But I told them that we have to experience the suffering, and that energy we will put into the next game," said the coach.

"I don't consider the game a must-win. We will continue our work. But we want to win and we will do our best," he added.

Saudi Arabia also put in a dominant first-half showing in their opening fixture but were poor after the break. They will also be desperate to turn the tables around when the clash with the home team.

"Losing the first game, especially in such a scenario, was of course upsetting for the whole team," said coach Mohammed Al Abdali.

"But we have worked on maintaining the players' confidence and I hope they will show great spirit tomorrow.

"India are a good team and we expect a tough game. Both sides need to win, which makes the task harder. We need the win as much as they do," Abdali said.