India, May 23 -- Bibiano Fernandes, the highly rated head coach of India's U-19 football team, which won the SAFF Championship a few days ago, has said the team surpassed his expectations with the quality of play exhibited. The new crop of talent should continue to work hard and persevere to ensure future success and not rest on current laurels, the 48-year-old coach said in an interview, while also explaining his coaching philosophy. Excerpts:

We have scouts all over the country watching the various competitions and giving me feedback. They send me videos and reports from time to time. The Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) was one competition that gave us a lot of inputs about the boys.

In this way, we were able to get info...