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With less than 9 days to go for India U-17s to clash swords against USA in the first ever FIFA World Cup hosted by India, the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India, the Indian Colts had their first training session ahead of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup under the watchful eyes of Head Coach Luis Norton de Matos, in the Capital at the Conscient Football ground in Gurugram, Haryana today (September 27, 2017).
The Indian U-17 National Team had arrived on yesterday’s eve from Goa and Head Coach Luis Norton Matos emphasized on tactical training along with focus on set pieces amongst other technical matters. Meanwhile, morale and spirits are at an all time high in the Indian camp with the young colts registering a 3-0 win over Mauritius in a practice match which the colts had played in Goa earlier.
That was even more evident on the training pitch as one could sense the scent of excitement from the players about to make history for Indian football in less than a fortnight. The players, even rightly so, were all ears to Matos’s commands as the technical staff along with the Head Coach guided them through drills.
“A unique moment is upon us”, said Matos. “It is an amazing moment in Indian Football’s history and everyone associated with it should be proud of it”
India have been draw in Group A of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India with USA, Colombia and Ghana, and incidentally Colombia, the first team to arrive in the nation for the FIFA World Cup, are practising at the same training ground as India.
The Indian Colts face USA on October 06, before locking horns against Colombia and Ghana on October 09 and October 12 respectively at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the Capital. The kick-off for all matches is at IST 8PM.
“The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup is a very big moment for every player as they will all become heroes. They will become the first Indian players to be part of a FIFA World Cup”
“These players will inspire generations to come, they will motivate posterity and that in itself is a victory”, he informed.
In an effort to field a strong team, the AIFF has provided exposure trips to the India U-17s wherein the colts went to play club teams and national team of Europe including clashes against Benfica, Serbia and Macedonia. The India U-17s also participated in a Four-Nation Tournament in Mexico alongside hosts Mexico, Chile and fellow Group A team Colombia.
“The level of enthusiasm in the camp is very high. We are prepared and the team has grown exponentially in the last couple of months. We plan to show the world that we are on the same page as the rest of the teams in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India”
“The Indian team is raring to go and make history”, Matos added.
