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Our India Under-17 team preparing for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup would play the Valentin Granatkin Memorial Youth Cup in Saint Petersburg, Russia from January 8, 2017 onwards.
The prestigious tournament would see the India Colts face in Group B hosts Russia (January 8) besides their neighbours Belarus (January 10) and Latvia (January 12) to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament which would be played indoors due to the cold Russian winter.
In Group A, Estonia have been grouped with Greece, Bulgaria, and Tajikistan; while in Group C, Lithuania face Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan; and finally in Group D, defending champions Slovenia face Moldova, Iran and local side Zenit St. Petersburg.
In 1981 the first Granatkin Memorial – the International youth football tournament was played in Moscow after it was initiated by the then FIFA President Joao Havelange to perpetuate the memory of the FIFA First Vice-President Valentin Granatkin.
The Granatkin Memorial tournament has also been a key stepping stone for top class talent like Andreas Möller, Oliver Bierhoff and Carsten Jancker of Germany; Marcel Desailly of France; Igor Kolyvanov and Alexandr Mostovoi of Russia.
After their training-cum-tournament stint in Brazil, the current India Under-16 which turns Under-17 on January 1, 2017 will leave the pleasant summer weather of the southern hemisphere and move to the freezing cold of the Russian city of Saint Petersburg.
