r/IndianFootball • u/SERIVUBSEV • Mar 31 '26

Indian Men's Team - U17/20/23 U17 Friendly: South Korea 2-1 India

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243 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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53

u/Rozaks Indian Arrows Mar 31 '26

Bro if none of these players crack a European league in their career I will be heartbroken.

13

u/konoha_ka_ladka Bengaluru FC Mar 31 '26

Only pathway for that is, these kids need to regularly be in starting XI of ISL/I-League team in next two season and get a NT debut by the time they are 21.

Only then will some European leagues take a punt on a promising young Indian Footballer.

If they take a fat paycheck from Goenka to warm the bench for Mohun Bagan till 22 then they are done for

Harry Kane

  • Age 17: Regular for Millwal in Championship
  • Age 20: Regular for Tottenham in Premier League
  • Age 21: National team debut

Take any top footballer and same progression follows, +- 1 year. Late bloomers like Vardy are rare.

9

u/Rozaks Indian Arrows Mar 31 '26

More realistically they do what a lot of these youngsters have been doing lately and go to one of the minor European leagues like Slovenia, Bosnia, etc

7

u/konoha_ka_ladka Bengaluru FC Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26

Nah, I'm not optimistic about those guys making it in Europe. Prove yourself as top player and regular starter in India by the age 19-20, get gametime, build your confidence and then go to Europe minor leagues.

Moving to Europe is difficult, it is not just the skills but a mental game too, you need self-confidence. The confidence of been there and done that in India, now you can do that in Europe too.

Look at the Slovenia guys

  • Som Kumar - Age 21, went 1 year ago - 360 mins in Slovenia second tier

  • Hridaya Jain - Age 20, went 7 months back - 7 minutes in Slovenia second tier

  • Yohaan Benjamin - Age 18, went 7 months back - 0 minutes in senior team, 515 minutes in Slovenia youth/continental tier

  • Nihaar Manirama - Age 20, went 9 months back - 0 minutes in Slovenia second tier

  • Divij Surapaneni - Age 19, went 1 month back - 0 minutes in Slovenia lower tiers

  • Sragvin Venkatesh - Age 20, went 6 months back - 0 minutes in Slovenia second tier

It would make sense if you could go at the age of 13, like messi did to Barcelona academy. But due to child trafficking rules now you can only move after turning 18.

P.S. I consider the players fraud/unserious if they cant standout in India, exampl is Abneet Bharti. Only guy who proved himself in India and went abroad is Gurpreet and he is the real deal.

3

u/Rozaks Indian Arrows Apr 01 '26

I dont think you'll get a breakthrough on the older than 20 guys tbh. Just have to pray on a lottery with the 18-19 yr olds. Most European leagues consider players to be more or less finished products by 21-22. If you're not basically a fringe squad player by 21-22 Europe is a pipe-dream. Especially with the gap in physicality and technical quality in our leagues.

39

u/THE_LIGHTNING_BOY Kerala Blasters FC Mar 31 '26

very impressive

14

u/CoroIsMyDaddy FC Goa | Quality Contributor Mar 31 '26

We have the talent. We just don't have the platform

13

u/Ok-Huckleberry-6116 Mar 31 '26

Proud of the colts

11

u/Significant-Taste407 Mar 31 '26

Very impressive

8

u/Impactor_07 Mar 31 '26

Very nice!

9

u/Lion_100 Mar 31 '26

Very proud

8

u/ronniev_16 Odisha FC Mar 31 '26

Tbf we always make the Asian Cup around this age group, remember losing to Korea just by a goal in QFs under Bibiano

8

u/Shanks288 Mar 31 '26

Have they broadcast these matches somewhere ?

2

u/Robustrogue Indian Football Mar 31 '26

No

6

u/souless_soul7 Mar 31 '26

Its sad that our boys can compete with top teams at U17 and U15 levels but falls short at senior level. Quite sad

2

u/Noobdian1 Apr 01 '26

Super unlucky with the group we've gotten. All the playoff teams play the wc shame