Suman Chakravorty & Sabyasachi Bagchi, New Delhi: The moment has arrived. India to participate and host the the first ever FIFA World Cup as the colts to start their journey in the FIFA U17 World Cup 2017 against the mighty USA tomorrow. Before the iconic day in Indian football, the words of India Head Coach Luis Norton De Matos and captain Amarjit Singh will make every Indian proud.
In the pre-match press conference, the India coach said, “All three teams of our group are big teams. I know USA’s strength and weaknesses. We want to write history. The intention would be to give our 100%.”
The India coach also emphasized, “It’s a big evening for India. I am excited. We worked very hard. This is the first moment to move ahead towards future.”
The India coach wanted the backing of the entire nation as he said, “We will fight for everything. We want the fans to be out twelfth man”
On the flip side Amarjit Singh, the captain too seemed very much charged up, as he said, “We had good times, we had tough times. Staying away from your family is never easy. But our focus is to give it our all. We are ready.”
Matos too seemed to have optimistic with his boys. He said, “Mental coaching was very impirtant for the players. The players must enjoy every moment of this event. Every tackle, every shot would be enjoyable for them.”
Discussing about the strength and weaknesses of the side, the coach said, “The defence would be very important. The chance factors should be utilized. The intensity is there.The players are focused and in such short time the focus was to correct the mindset. Boys have been very humble.We changed the style of our game.” At the same time the India coach seemed cautious as he said, “In today’s world all teams know the strengths and weaknesses. We don’t have the experience which the other teams have in our group.”
Talking about the opposition, Matos said, “The USA is much stronger. They have some superb attackers. Josh and Akinola are key players. They are very physical”.
On Friday’s game, India wont have the service of defender Boris Singh due to suspension. But the India coach seemed determined, as he said, “Boris Singh is suspended for the game but we have his replacement ready.”
India’s probable XI: Dheeraj; Hendry, Jitendra, Anwar, Sanjeev; Ninthoigangba, Suresh, Amarjit, Komal; Rahim, Aniket