Hosts India Meet USA In Their Maiden WC Clash
Be canny and careful, baby you are on the brink...“All long jouneys start with a baby step. Former FIFA president's Sepp Blatter's `sleeping giants' are about to take that first one. As Friday evening will settle down on the Capital's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, India's U-17 boys -the select few born on or after 2000 -will have their first taste of a global competition. The biggest in their age category , the World Cup.
The smell of paint is still fresh at the venues as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) pulled out all the stops to get things in order since winning the bid in 2013. Scouting, selection and almost three years of preparations went on under chief vcoach Nicholai Adam before he was hastily removed in February 2017 and Luis Norton de Matos was given the reins to help the adolescent boys become men.
Emotional management, which rocked Adam's boat, is said to be De Matos' key weapon.Blending it with his technical acumen, De Matos has promised to get the best out of the boys.
Midfielder Amarjit Singh, the democratically elected leader of the bunch, looked visibly excited. One just hopes his energy electrifies his mates as they will be up against a far superior opposition, the USA. Considered as one of the title contenders, USA has come with a fearsome reputation.
Amarjit's opposite number Josh Sergeant is going to join Werder Bremen once he turns 18 in February. Tim Weah has already bagged a Paris Saint Germain contract, at a younger age than his famous father, George.
“We have had a wonderful journey so far,“ said Amarjit on Thursday. “We have prepared well and the coach has tried to polish the rough edges in the last six months.“ His coach, however, sounded a warning note. “Wha ever we have tried to perfect in practice, it is not quite the same on the field,“ said de Matos.
It is the conversion rate that has left creases on Dos Matos' countenance. “Our opponents score one out of three chances. For us, the rate is one out of seven.“
In the Youth Cup in 2016, USA scored four past India without response. However, their coach John Hackworth refused to read oo much into that. “The scoreline isn't indicative of the contest.
ndia is the most hard-working eam I have seen and they must have made huge strides since,“ Hackworth said on Thursday.
In a recent interview to US Soccer, the coach had thrown ight on his captain Sergeant.The handsome boy made a cameo appearance on Thursday at he press conference. “Well, I hink this is a big challenge for Josh. Look, the only way that he can improve on his Under-20 per ormance is to win the Golden Boot at the Under-17 World Cup and that is, hands-down, an incredibly tough challenge,“ said he coach.
Sergeant will be earning a unique distinction of playing in he U-20 World Cup and U-17 in he same calendar year. “What I really like about Josh and his de velopment and having these experiences at the U-20 World Cup is that he doesn't let that change his daily focus -on how he goes about his job at trying to get better. I mean, he's very confident in his ability, his work ethic is excellent,“ said Hackworth.
Ready to join Werder Bremen in February when he comes of age, Sergeant typfies the style that the US team plays. Physically very strong, technically sharp and having a wealth of experince. “I have tried to bring my U-20 experience to this team,“ the striker said.
Something that Amarjit and his mates will find hard to match once the ball is set rolling by Prime Minister Narendra Modi .The U-17 World Cup is a tournament of the first post-millennial generation. Amarjit and his mates have the opportunity to showcase on the brightest stage that they are truly the select few.
Game on.
The smell of paint is still fresh at the venues as the All India Football Federation (AIFF) pulled out all the stops to get things in order since winning the bid in 2013. Scouting, selection and almost three years of preparations went on under chief vcoach Nicholai Adam before he was hastily removed in February 2017 and Luis Norton de Matos was given the reins to help the adolescent boys become men.
Emotional management, which rocked Adam's boat, is said to be De Matos' key weapon.Blending it with his technical acumen, De Matos has promised to get the best out of the boys.
Midfielder Amarjit Singh, the democratically elected leader of the bunch, looked visibly excited. One just hopes his energy electrifies his mates as they will be up against a far superior opposition, the USA. Considered as one of the title contenders, USA has come with a fearsome reputation.
Amarjit's opposite number Josh Sergeant is going to join Werder Bremen once he turns 18 in February. Tim Weah has already bagged a Paris Saint Germain contract, at a younger age than his famous father, George.
“We have had a wonderful journey so far,“ said Amarjit on Thursday. “We have prepared well and the coach has tried to polish the rough edges in the last six months.“ His coach, however, sounded a warning note. “Wha ever we have tried to perfect in practice, it is not quite the same on the field,“ said de Matos.
It is the conversion rate that has left creases on Dos Matos' countenance. “Our opponents score one out of three chances. For us, the rate is one out of seven.“
In the Youth Cup in 2016, USA scored four past India without response. However, their coach John Hackworth refused to read oo much into that. “The scoreline isn't indicative of the contest.
ndia is the most hard-working eam I have seen and they must have made huge strides since,“ Hackworth said on Thursday.
In a recent interview to US Soccer, the coach had thrown ight on his captain Sergeant.The handsome boy made a cameo appearance on Thursday at he press conference. “Well, I hink this is a big challenge for Josh. Look, the only way that he can improve on his Under-20 per ormance is to win the Golden Boot at the Under-17 World Cup and that is, hands-down, an incredibly tough challenge,“ said he coach.
Sergeant will be earning a unique distinction of playing in he U-20 World Cup and U-17 in he same calendar year. “What I really like about Josh and his de velopment and having these experiences at the U-20 World Cup is that he doesn't let that change his daily focus -on how he goes about his job at trying to get better. I mean, he's very confident in his ability, his work ethic is excellent,“ said Hackworth.
Ready to join Werder Bremen in February when he comes of age, Sergeant typfies the style that the US team plays. Physically very strong, technically sharp and having a wealth of experince. “I have tried to bring my U-20 experience to this team,“ the striker said.
Something that Amarjit and his mates will find hard to match once the ball is set rolling by Prime Minister Narendra Modi .The U-17 World Cup is a tournament of the first post-millennial generation. Amarjit and his mates have the opportunity to showcase on the brightest stage that they are truly the select few.
Game on.
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