U-17 World Cup: Rahim’s coach expresses desire to felicitate Bengal trio

Kolkata, Oct 14 (IANS) India forward Rahim Ali's coach Amiya Ghosh plans to felicitate all three Bengal footballers after their spirited display at the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Defender Jitendra Singh and midfielder Abhijit Sarkar are the other two players besides Ali who are from the state and were part of India's U-17 World Cup team.

The hosts lost all three of their group games to the USA, Colombia and Ghana but did not surrender meekly, especially against the Colombians when Jeakson Singh helped them peg back after being 1-0 down to eventually succumb to a 1-2 reversal.

On arriving in the city after India crashed out of Group A in the preliminary round, Ali, Sarkar and Singh were well received by their parents and a few waiting fans at the airport.

Ghosh was present in the stands at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi for India's games against Colombia and Ghana after Ali asked his 'guru' to come over.

"I would like to felicitate not only him (Rahim) but the other two players as well. I will check with the time and date with them as they have to comeback to Delhi again. I want to gift them something within my means," Ghosh told IANS over phone from the Capital.

All 21 players, part of the World Cup squad, have been offered three-year contracts by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) keeping in mind the U-19 AFC Championships in 2018 and U-20 World Cup in 2019.

The India U-17 team's next assignment will be the U-19 AFC Championship qualifiers, which will start in Saudi Arabia on November 4.

India are clubbed with Yemen, Turkmenistan and hosts Saudi Arabia in Group D.

If India can make the AFC Championships, which will be held in Indonesia next year, they will get a shot at a 2019 U-20 World Cup berth as top four teams will qualify directly.

These players will also participate as a team in the I-League this year much like the Indian Arrows which was disbanded few years back.