I believe in possession, attacking football: Naushad Moosa

India’s newly appointed U-23 football coach, Naushad Moosa, is looking to imprint upon the next generation of Blue Tigers his attacking philosophy ahead of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers to be held in Qatar from September 1 to 9.

India is in Group H alongside Qatar, Bahrain, and Brunei Darussalam with a total of 44 teams divided into 11 groups of four each. The group winners and the four best runners-up, alongside hosts Saudi Arabia, will complete the cast of 16 teams at the seventh AFC U23 Asian Cup to be held in January 2026.

“I believe in possession and attacking football, while, in terms of defending, it depends on the opponents if we should press high or defend in a mid-block,” Kharghar-based Moosa told mid-day ahead of the two-week training camp that begins on June 1 in Kolkata.

After the camp, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has organised a couple of friendlies, against Tajikistan (June 18) and the Kyrgyz Republic (June 22) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

‘Need more training camps’

However, Moosa, who is also the assistant coach at Indian Super League (ISL) club Northeast United, believes he needs more time to imbibe his charges with his footballing principles. “I need to speak to AIFF with regards to having more training camps. Since most of the players apart from a couple [in the 29-man squad] are part of ISL clubs, we need to see how often we can have these camps because the Durand Cup will take place in July and August,” said the 53-year-old.

Bridging the gap with seniors

Moosa is also in constant contact with India’s senior team coach, Manolo Marquez, to help smoothen the transition for players who may be promoted to the senior side in the future. “Since we want the players to ultimately get into the senior team, I’m speaking to him [Marquez] to understand what he wants from the players while I also try to understand his way of playing,” the former India defender added.

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