Suzhou [China], May 9 (ANI): The final whistle had barely faded when Pamela Conti found herself surrounded by her players. One after another, the Young Tigresses rushed towards their head coach, hugging her, chanting around her, and even trying to lift her into the air in celebration after India scripted history by reaching the quarter-finals of the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup for the first time ever.

In that moment, as the emotions of months of hard work and belief came pouring out from the group around her, tears filled the Italian's eyes.

For a team that had continuously spent more than three months training together, often twice a day, the 4-0 victory against Lebanon was more than just three points. It placed India among the top eight teams in Asia and moved the Young Tigresses to within one match of a place in the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup Morocco 2026. No Indian women's team has ever been one win away from qualifying for a FIFA World Cup on merit.

'It is an incredible achievement,' Conti told aiff.com after the historic result. 'Nobody believed it was possible, but from the very first moment, I believed that if we trained differently, we could achieve what we have done. I am very happy. There are hardly enough words to describe it. I am only grateful to these players, who from day one have always followed everything we asked of them,' she said, according to a release.

India's qualification came after a commanding performance against Lebanon, where the Young Tigresses attacked with confidence and clarity from the opening whistle. Pritika Barman scored twice, while Alva Devi Senjam and Joya added the other goals in a dominant display.

Conti was particularly pleased with the intent her side showed throughout the contest.

'We played an incredible match. Honestly, 4-0 is even a narrow result because we could have scored more goals. What I really liked was the team's desire to press high, to keep looking for goals, and the very important tactical organisation we showed.

'But the most important thing was qualifying for the knockout stage, and I am extremely happy about that.'

The achievement also represented the reward for months of demanding preparation under the Italian coach, who took charge in January and immediately set high standards within the camp.

'From the first day I arrived, I told the players that we had to work, work, and work,' Conti said. 'I do not know any other path to success apart from hard work.

'Nobody complained, nobody got tired of it. We trained for almost three and a half months, twice a day, to achieve this.'

India entered the tournament after a 21-year absence from the AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup and were drawn alongside Australia, Japan and Lebanon in a difficult Group B. While defeats against the former two left their qualification hopes hanging in the balance, the Young Tigresses responded emphatically in the decisive final group game.

'For me, the most important thing is that we have given happiness to India, a country that welcomed me so warmly from the beginning. Now we can say that we are among the top eight teams in Asia. If someone had told me this a few months ago, I would not have believed it,' Conti said.

India will now face hosts China in the quarter-final on Monday, with a place in the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup at stake. China finished Group A as toppers, scoring 15 goals against Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand, and conceding none.

'China are a very strong team,' Conti said. 'They have many technically gifted players, they are good tactically, and they have the advantage of playing at home with a lot of crowd support.'

At the same time, the Young Tigresses' head coach made it clear that India will approach the occasion with the same belief that has defined their campaign so far.

'Now we know we will face China, who are a very strong team. We will try to achieve qualification for the World Cup, knowing how difficult it will be,' said Conti.

'But I already said before the tournament that we would play against every team with dignity, and that is exactly what this team is doing. Playing with dignity gives you something extra, not only in football, but also in life.

'We will go there to play our game, to make things difficult for them, and hopefully we can win and achieve the World Cup qualification that we all want so much.'

The quarter-final between India and China will kick off at 17:00 IST on May 11. (ANI)