The hosts — with two wins from as many matches — now need a draw against Syria (four points from two matches) to book a ticket to China next year as only group winners qualify for the main competition.
After Team India's campaign at the AFC U-23 qualifying tournament ended with two defeats in as many matches, Stephen Constantine's boys will look to salvage a point against Turkmenistan in their last group match here on Sunday.
India lost to Qatar 0-1 in a hard-fought second match late on Friday. The hosts — with two wins from as many matches — now need a draw against Syria (four points from two matches) to book a ticket to China next year as only group winners qualify for the main competition.
"My objective in the beginning of this qualification event was to try and get these boys some international experiences which can help them progress to the senior team," said India coach Stephen Constantine.
Though he is worried about the future of these young footballers, he could not offer any solution when asked if he would suggest the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on instructing the Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League clubs to include more junior players.
"You can't force the clubs to sign players, but I'm sure this will be addressed with two parallel leagues where they'll get to play in more competitive games," said the 54-year-old.
Constantine, who recently co-authored his autobiography From Delhi to the Den, changed six players from the first XI which played against Syria in the opening match.
"By starting six to seven different boys against Qatar, I wanted to give them the exposure. Trainings at times get boring. It's important to play international matches because game is the teacher and that's good for Indian football," added Constantine.
The Indian side showed amazing fighting spirit, but failed to maintain their momentum in crunch times.
India held the Syrians goalless till the 64th minute and threw a tough challenge against the Qataris, who were kept in check by a confident back-line.
However, Almoez Ali scored the winner in the 54th minute after an error by India goalkeeper Vishal Kaith.
Winning may not be important at the junior level, but lack of international success surely reflects the country's appalling grass-root activities.
To churn out quality footballers, encouraging the youth and building a supply-line are some of the basics in any sport's structure, but the AIFF has always failed to learn from the past lessons and somehow ignored the fundamentals.
As the country's head coach, Constantine is apprehensive of the youth football's future despite the sport has become glossy in the last five years.
"The outside world knows about Indian football due to ISL, but there's still room for improvement. I really don't know what U-17 players will do after the FIFA World Cup," he added.
For someone like Emeka Ezuego, who has played top club football in India with East Bengal and Mohammedan Sporting in the 80s and early 90s, and later went to represent Nigeria at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, believed that Indian football can never improve under foreign coaches.
"The AIFF and Indian clubs always employ Europeans. It has never worked. No foreigner has ever won a World Cup because there's difference in language and socio-cultural identity," he said on a social networking site reacting on Indian team's unimpressive results.
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