A few weeks back on the 9th of May, the draw was taken for the AFC U-19 CHAMPIONSHIP at the AFC House Kuala Lumpur. Where our team landed in group C amidst Tajikistan, Syria and Lebanon.

The lot was drawn dividing all 46 teams into two zones of West and East. Maldives got settled into the West zone with another 24 teams. While the East zone consists of 21 teams.

On the West with us we have the kings of the tournament. Five times title holder Iraq faces of Pakistan, Kuwait, Palestine and Oman in group A. And in group B we have the winners of 2014 and semi finalists of last year Qatar tightly set against Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan and Yemen.

Four times champions Iran who missed last year's at Indonesia are in dire need to come back stronger than ever against Nepal, Kyrgyzstan and 2008 champions UAE in group D. And in group E we will see 2016 quarter finalists Bahrain go up against Bhutan, Bangladesh and Jordan. Last but but not least, we have group F with defending champions Saudi Arabia going strong against Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and India. 

With such teams on the line to face off against, it's not a wonder that our U-19 will be feeling the pressure. It is believed that under 19 national team trainings will be starting soon. Most probably the final squad will be selected after a period of trials to see stars that arose in the latest FAM U19 tournament and Mamen U19 inter school tournament on the squad.