Last year’s football Under 17 World Cup in Chile saw a fine display of elite youth football: both England and Brazil faltered with stereotypical and unimaginative matches, but such was the general tactical and technical refinement during the tournament that head coach of the Indian national U17 football team Nicolai Adam was a keen observer. Adam, appointed in 2015, faces the mammoth task of propelling hosts India to a successful U17 World Cup at home next year.

In South America, Belgium won a bronze medal and confirmed their status as the international hub for youth development. Mali thrilled with modern and dynamic football, but ultimately faltered against Nigeria in the final 2-0. The Golden Eaglets retained their crown as the most complete team in Chile. They played a flat four in defence, deployed a mix of zonal and man marking, transitioned quickly in midfield and struck in attack with striker Victor Osimhen.

Adam and the India U17 team may not be able to hope to match those advanced teams, but will strive to participate in next year's big jamboree with dignity. They are looking to achieve this goal through gradual development. Last year, the team held a successful training camp in Germany and played convincingly in the U16 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Currently, the team are in South Africa for a training camp until the end of March. They will play Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport, University of Pretoria and two matches against South Africa U16. At the end of May, Adam and his squad head for a repeat camp in Germany. These camps must instil the players with the technique and discipline to match their continental counterparts in the second half of the year at the U16 Asian Cup, a dress rehearsal for the 2017 World Cup and meeting those cultivated Belgians, Malians and Nigerians on the biggest stage.

Scroll spoke exclusively with Nicolai Adam, the head coach of India’s U17 national team.

India defeated Bahrain and Lebanon in the U16 Asian Cup qualifiers, defeated teams from the UAE and youth teams from Ingolstadt 04 and FSV Frankfurt. How do you reflect upon 2015 and are you satisfied with the progress made?
Yes, I am satisfied with the progress made. Nevertheless there is still a long way to get strong enough as a team to compete in the U17 World Cup. The next big challenge will be the AFC Championship in September in India. Then we will compete with the best 15 teams of Asia of this age group and we will get a clear picture of how far we are.

Can you in particular elaborate on the camp in Germany and what the team learnt?
Germany provides great facilities and top opponents all over the place. The team has learned that they can achieve successful results versus good teams if they prepare professionally and this gave each player good confidence.

You were an International Football Development Officer at the German Football Association, in what way is that helping you in your current job?
You can’t buy experience and I worked in several African countries as a coach educator as well as in Azerbaijan. You learn to be patient, to be focused and how to improvise. This, and my knowledge from my own time as a player, the Pro license and my university qualifications, are helpful.

Can you chart the roadmap ahead of the U16 AFC Championship and the U17 World Cup?
In short: the key is exposure to highly competitive football of this age group. Phase I is already behind us (taking over, settle into the job as well as the culture, do additional scouting and finally playing the AFC-Qualifiers). Phase II is where we are right now: more exposure to even bigger and stronger opponents, in and outside of India, and finally playing the AFC Championship in India in September 2016. Phase III will basically start after the AFC Championship and the peak will finally be the World Cup.

What is the goal ultimately at the U17 World Cup?
To have a top competitive team together and therefore be difficult to beat even against the strongest opponents in the world.

What was your assessment of the last U17 World Cup in Chile and in which way are you trying to integrate those latest trends and developments in your team?
It’s normal in my job to attend and observe a tournament like the one in Chile. I have regularly been following U17/U19 competitions (World Cup, UEFA, etc.) because this is also part of the job as an instructor. Nowadays watching an U17 World Cup match reminds me a lot of adult football in many aspects - physically, technically and tactically. The future stars of football at young age can be seen and the level is amazing. Actually, if you don’t know much about football and if you wouldn’t know that you are watching U17 players, you would think they are adults.

In general what is your philosophy as a coach?
To win as many matches as possible without forgetting to give each player the best possible football education.

What’s the biggest challenge you face as India’s U17 coach? Scouting?From my point of view and from experience, I can say that the size of India is definitely a challenge and at the same time, a chance. Scouting is never easy. In Germany we have the luxury of plenty of talent through the countrywide youth development program. But then you have the agony of choice…

What’s the biggest challenge Indian football faces?
My job is to prepare my team in the best possible way for the World Cup in 2017. I get great support from my Federation [the All India Football Federation] and the government [Sports Authority of India]. You should ask the same question to a football coach in school or a coach of a club team. Those people can answer the question much better than I can do. They might face problems I am not even aware of because I basically get great support and don’t really miss anything.

Do the AIFF and Indian football have a long-term strategy for development of (youth) football? For the top European countries - Germany, France, Spain, Belgium it took a decade to overhaul their football through detailed plans. There seems to be no such plan in place in India.
As I said before: I focus on my task, which is to prepare my team for the big tournament ahead of us. You have to ask this question to the responsible people at the AIFF, the governing body of football in India. But I want to remind you that there are already a lot of grass-root programs in place as well the goal to get 11 million kids involved in football by the end of 2017. Right now a special course regarding football management on the administrative level is in process as well.