June 16, 2026 10:44 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Tragedy in the skies: Five IAF personnel killed in AN-32 crash in Assam | 'Ask probe officers whether I hid anything': Abhishek Banerjee hits back after pre-dawn police search | Police storm Abhishek Banerjee's house at 3 am tracking aide, Mamata arrives; seizure list says 'NIL' | Big boost for India's security: DRDO successfully tests advanced missile shield | Indian-origin man jailed for 34 years in UK over horrific kidnap, torture and rape case | Mamata's nightmare deepens! Saayoni Ghosh, Dev, Rachana Banerjee among 19 rebel MPs seeking TMC split | Trump claims US 'ended war with Iran', Tehran yet to confirm a deal | Heartbreak for Indian sports: Manu Bhaker's mentor Jaspal Rana passes away at 49 | Three Indian seafarers, missing after US strike on tanker near Oman, confirmed dead | 'Choose your side': TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee's ultimatum to Mamata in open revolt against Abhishek

Five boys shortlisted from overseas trials

| | Jun 21, 2016, at 08:47 pm
Following the launch of the SAI – AIFF Overseas Scouting Project for the Indian U-17 World Cup Squad, Abhishek Yadav, Director of Scouting, AIFF, conducted trials for Indian Passport holders in Dubai on June 10-11, 2016. Yadav even scouted some boys who would be undergoing further trials under U-17 Head Coach Nicolai Adam. In a freewheeling interview, Yadav spoke at length to www.the-aiff.com about the trials in Dubai, the response, the quality of boys, his assessment and much more. Excerpts:

What is your assessment of Dubai trials?
 

I was very surprised with the talents on display at the Dubai trials in a good way. One could see that the boys knew how to play Football. There were 250 plus boys who participated in the trials over the length of the two days and the quality was impressive as well.

How many Players have been shortlisted?

We have shortlisted 5 Players – Augustas Nixon, Neelakantan Anand, Arjun Sunil, Rixon Lobo and Yuveer Kelkar.

What next for the shortlisted Players?

The shortlisted Players will be observed closely by the Indian U-17 National Team Head Coach Nicolai Adam in the Camp in Germany. The onus now lies on the Players to impress Nicolai. It is now Nicolai’s call whether the boys fit into the scheme of things for the U-17 World Cup squad.

What is your assessment of the shortlisted Players?

We did an in-depth analysis of them and all of that displayed good potential. We also found a left footer in the squad and that is something which we look forward too. Overall, though it seems the boys have what it takes to play Football at the next level it all depends on them on how hard they work to achieve it.

Image: AIFF.com

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.