Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
Related Articles
After two losses in their first two encounter against hosts Mexico and Colombia, the India Under-17 World Cup squad earned a one-all draw against Chile U-17s at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento in Mexico City earlier today, August 6.
The Indian Colts started on a positive note but it was their opponents Chile who took the lead through defender Matías Silva in the 38th minute after a corner kick was fluffed by the Indian defence line as the half-time scoreline read 0-1 in favour of Chile.
Changing over, Aniket Jadhav’s shot in the 55th minute came close to equalising proceedings but it was Nongdamba Naorem Singh’s strike in the 80th minute that put the teams on level terms. The Indian colts pressed for a late winner but failed to find any and Aniket was sent off in the 82nd minute, as the full-time scoreline read 1-1.
Despite earning their first point of the tournament, India finished last with only a point to their name with Chile just ahead of them with two points, Colombia finished second with five points after their draw against Mexico, who in turn won the Torneo de 4 Naciones with seven points from two wins and a draw.
I was keenly waiting to see how our U17 boys play the last match against Chile U17.
I knew before the start of the tournament that because of Jet Lag its tough for our kids to do well in the 1st match against Mexico.When I saw the schedule that the 2nd match against Columbia is within 24 hours of the 1st match , I knew that it was another messed up planning.
In the future if AIFF wants to send any team to US or anywhere in the American continent then they should keep in the mind the Jet lag factor of 2-3 days and accordingly send the boys at least 5-7 days before the start of the 1st match.
The performance against Chile U17 probably reflects the correct status of our kids. I hope AIFF would now stop throwing these kids all over the world and keep them continuously in one location. I would prefer to have these kids now in either England , Spain or Italy. They can stay there and play against the U17 or U18 squads of the top division clubs of Europe till its time for the kids to camp in Delhi.We should n´t expose these kids any further to long air-trips and drastic change in environment and climate or many of these kids can fall sick before the start of the World Cup.