AIFF Academy held by PVF Vietnam

After two back to back loses AIFF’s Kalyani Regional academy boys’ rigorous training and vocal tonic of Goutam Ghosh worked a little for their third match against PVF Vietnam in Asia Champions Trophy.
But its a ‘learning process’ for the boys, the head coach Goutam Ghosh said. “This is a bunch of U-16 boys and this 1-1 draw stays a part of their learning curve,” he admitted. “From now on, they will emerge stronger in the last 10 minutes understanding how to hold onto a one-goal lead,” he added.

The match between AIFF XI and PVF Vietnam ended in a 1-1 draw with Pham Trong pulling it back for PVF from a direct free-kick in injury time.

A pleased PVF Coach Nguyen Chuong said it was a “pleasing moment” for them.

“We had come here intending to secure one point from the match. From that aspect we have been successful,” he confessed.

“AIFF XI may have lost their first two matches but we have watched videos of them.

“They are a good Team. Hence, we had to be cautious,” he pronounced.

“We need to improve our midfield combination. The Indian midfield caused us problems,” he further added. “India were better for most of the match. But we tried to increase our intensity in the last 20 minutes. And it paid dividends.”

Ghosh meanwhile felt that his boys were “improving” with every match.

“It’s a developmental process,” he stressed. But if you look at our performances, the graph is moving upwards,” he maintained.

“We missed the intensity in the second half. In the first half, our boys played like professionals. I’d say, the intensity was as good as the I-League. But it’s very tough for U-16 boys to play at that intensity for the entire duration,” Ghosh opined.