There may be hope. And though it may well turn out to be a false dawn, the one thing Indian football needs the most right now is hope.

The Indian under-16 men’s football team defied predictions to thrash Bahrain 5-0 in the first match of the Asian Football Confederation U-16 Championship qualifiers in Tabriz, Iran. Coming against a nation whose senior team are ranked 112 in the world compared to India’s 155, this was an incredible result, one coming completely against the grain of expectations. The result is also a massive statement of intent by the Indian colts, who will also participate in the U-17 FIFA World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in 2017.

All guns blazing

India came out all guns blazing, refusing to be cowed down by their opponent’s higher ranking. Aniket Jadhav, a talented youngster from Pune, had a shot saved in the eighth minute before Komal Thatal saw a fierce shot ricocheting off the post. But India were not to be denied as Gaston da Silva made no mistake with a powerful shot in the roof of the net in the 15th minute. The youngsters added two more before halftime – Aman Chetri showing good presence of mind to lob one over the goal-keeper in the 19th minute, and then Boris Singh Thangjam running all the way from the centre-line, dribbling past the Bahraini defenders before finishing it with a neat shot to the left corner, at the 27th minute. With India up 3-0, it was becoming like a stroll in the park.

The script was similar in the second half. It was Aniket Jadhav again who was denied a goal due to the Bahraini goal-keeper Bashar Abed. However, the very next minute, Jadhav showed supreme ball control before laying off a deft pass to Aman Chetri who made no mistake in slotting it past the keeper for his second goal of the match. India were relentless in attack with Abed, by far the best Bahraini player, the keeper keeping out shot after another. It got even worse for Bahrain when their striker Abdulla Jasim was shown red for a dangerous foul in the 65th minute.

Impressive performance

Finally, the colts put their finishing touch on the match, with a fifth goal in the 75th match. It was another great period of play – some deft passing from the Indian midfield cut the Bahraini defence open before Suresh Singh Wangjam made no mistake putting it past Abed. Another impressive and mature aspect of the performance was that despite all the goals, India never let Bahrain in with even a sniff of a goal, ensuring that they kept a clean sheet. When the final whistle rang out, the scoreline read a scarcely believable: India five, Bahrain nil.

Nicolai Adam, the head coach of the Indian team, was understandably measured about the incredible performance by his young guns, preferring to look forward to the next “difficult” fixture against Iran and reiterating how it was his responsibility as coach to ensure that his wards kept their feet “on the ground”.

His Bahrainian counterpart though was full of praise for the Blue Tigers, admitting that his team were “destroyed” in the 90 minutes. “India were strong in all departments and surprised us on the field,” he commented.

There could not have been a better start for the U-16 team in their journey to the U-17 FIFA World Cup. For the sake of the future of Indian football, the hope is that such performances become the norm, rather than the exceptions.