Cairo:
India’s Under-16 football team beat Al-Ahly 2-1 in friendly match to win the India-Egypt Friendship Cup. Head coach of the Indian team Bibiano Fernandes expressed his happiness for the win and said the match was good as it was beneficial and a learning experience for both teams.
“I’m really happy we have learned a lot of things. We are looking forward to build this team to the AFC,” Fernandes told PTI. He noted that the team was undergoing training to play in the Under-16 AFC tournament which will be held in Nepal.
“They did a good job in terms of fitness and traveling and playing in another country. I’m really happy about this,” he said after the match yesterday. The head coach also said that he was optimistic about his team and sees them in a good level in future.
Rohit Danu, who scored the first goal for India said that he was very happy for the win. “I’m very happy to score the first goal. I gained good experience is this match,” said Danu.
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Aenam Jyrwa, who scored the second goal, said that his goal confirmed the team’s trust in winning. “We have travelled so far to play this match so we are happy to win the first match and we are expected to win the second match as well,” Jyrwa said.
Ali Amr, Ahly team player who scored the only goal against India, congratulated the Indian team for their win. “Good luck for the indian team. I enjoyed playing with them,” Amr said.
India’s Ambassador to Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharyya said that the match showed that the young team has a lot of talent.
“I saw a lot of good techniques, some of the players were really brilliant. But the most important thing is that football won. I think this is just the beginning I’m looking forward to an Egyptian team to go to India,” said the Ambassador.
Samer Abdel Rahman, coach of Al-Ahly under-16 team, said that he noticed that the Indian team was talented from their first interaction. Abdel Rahman also said that the match was a good opportunity for both teams to know the culture and style of each of them.
At the end of the match, Ambassador Bhattacharyya, Mahmoud el-Helw, first undersecretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Al-Ahli executive manager Shereen Shams awarded the young footballers medals of friendship and and the India-Egypt Friendship Cup.
The Indian footballers will next play against Semoha team in Alexandria. The matches are being played as part of the ‘India by the Nile’ cultural festival, which runs till April 27.
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