New Delhi:

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has asked Portuguese coach Luis Norton de Matos to continue beyond his current contract which ends on October 31. De Matos was entrusted with the responsibility of guiding India at next month’s Fifa U-17 World Cup but the AIFF now wants him to also take charge of the India U-19 team.“Luis will stay with us beyond the World Cup,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told TOI on Tuesday.The Portuguese coach will guide India at the AFC U-19 championship qualifiers in November and is also expected to coach a combined squad of India U-17 and India U-19 players in the next edition of I-League later this year.India have been grouped with hosts Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Turkmenistan and will hope to qualify either as one of the 10 group winners, or five best second-placed teams. The AFC U-19 Championship qualifying stage is scheduled to take place from October 31 to November 8.