Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on Friday praised Indian football team saying that standard of side has improved drastically and appended that ministry will put more attention on better training, coaching, and or facilities. Rijiju spoke to ANI after launching book on former India football captain Baichung Bhutia titled " Ball of Baichung Bhutia".

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Words of appreciation

“ Indian football team has improved its standard drastically. Sunil Chhetri was t re in match, still, team was able to draw ir match against Qatar in qualifying tournament. I wish Chhetri a speedy recovery. Football is most popular sport in world and India should look to cement ir place as a strong force in sport," Rijiju said.

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Match against Qatar drew world's attention

India h an intense match against Qatar on Tuesday leing to a goalless draw in tournament’s qualifiers for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. fantastic performance of Indian side against host of World Cup has been a major boost for Indian soccer fans as well across world.

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Baichung Bhutia's view on Indian Football

Baichung Bhutia also agreed to Rijiju’s confidence on Indian Team and said, "I think result against Qatar was very good. Despite Chhetri t being re, team showed good skills. y lost first match against Oman, but performance against Qatar was very good. India needs to build on its performance as only two teams from group sts will go ahe."  

"It is a long term process, you need to build on it. After U-17 World Cup, standard of sport has improved in country. We need to improve culture towards football. South American teams are like us if we talk about infrastructure, but culture is re. We need to build grounds and if that happens youth will get attracted to sport," former captain said. 

Rijiju hailed biography of Baichung Bhutia saying that book narrates journey of ace Indian footballer and former captain who helped Indian football grow in country. He furr ded that book will be an inspiration for all. 

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