India pitted againt Bangladesh, Syria and Uzbekistan in AFC U-23 Championship 2016 qualifers

File photo of the India U-23 football team

DELHI: India have been clubbed in Group E along with Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Syria in the AFC U-23 Championship 2016 (Qualifiers).

The draw held at the AFC House in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur on Thursday saw India named in Group E along with Qualifiers’ hosts Bangladesh whom they take on March 31. The boys in blue will open their account against Uzbekistan on March 27 with Syria waiting in their next game onMarch 29.

The preparations for the Qualifiers start March 1. India gave a decent account of themselves last year in its inaugural edition finishing fourth in a six-team group with seven points from five matches. India’s sojourn included victories against Lebanon (5-2) and Turkmenistan (4-1) with an impressive 1-1 stalemate against United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This is the second edition of the tournament, which has been renamed the AFC U-23 Championship 2016 from AFC U-22 Championship in the inaugural edition. Iraq are the defending champions.

Ten group winners and five best-second placed teams from all groups (total 15 teams) will qualify for the final competition where hosts Qatar await.

The qualifiers will be held from March 23 to 31, 2015 while the tournament proper will be played in January 2016.

The AFC U-23 Championship 2016 will serve as the Olympics qualifiers in every alternate edition. The top three teams from the 2016 edition will represent Asia at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.