Kolkata : India U’17 coach Nicolai Adam have lashed at the football infrastructure here in Bengal . Adam , who is here with his U’17 team to play a practice match against a combined IFA XI was literally upset with the pitch . The German coach expressed his anger to the media after the match at Mohun Bagan ground . “ I do not want to lose any player due to injury playing at such king of surfaces . If you play at these surfaces , there is a huge possibility of getting injured . You need better infrastructures if you want the game to develop ” commented Adam . He further added “ We will not come here again if such infrastructure exists . You need to get funds and build better pitches . Artificial pitch could be a solution . ”
The Indian U-17 World Cup Squad defeated combined IFA XI 2-0 at the Mohun Bagan Ground in Kolkata . Although the Indian colts attacked from the start, IFA XI adopted a defensive stance and made it virtually impossible for the Colts to foster a clear goal scoring chance, as the half-time score-line read 0-0. The Colts finally breached the IFA XI citadel in the 54th minute when Aniket burst into the 18 yard box and scored to give the Indian Colts a 1-0 lead. In the 67th minute, the Indian Colts scored again through Sanjeev as he blasted his chance home following an Aniket cross to make it 2-0 for India. Attacking fluidity with defensive solidity got the Indian colts through as the full-time scoreline read 2-0. Tarak Hembrem and Shamik Mitra were impressive for the combined IFA XI .
The Indian U-17 Squad clashes swords against NorthEast XI next on January 29, 2016 in Guwahati. On being asked about the plans ahead , Mr Adam stressed on the importance of exposure trips ,“We will be travelling to South Africa for one month (Feb. 4-March 6). There we play against top teams such as Mamelodi Sundowns, SuperSport, University of Pretoria and two matches against the South Africa U-16 national team.
The boys then get a break for their examinations ( I will also travel to Germany as my mother is not well ) and we assemble around April 10 in Goa. We play some more exhibition games, in Bangalore (Bengaluru), Odisha and Chandigarh. There will then be a 10-day tournament in Goa with South Korea, Malaysia, (Brazilian club) Atletico Paranaense and us.
On May 28, we leave for Germany where with the help of the DFB (the German federation) we will have two camps, in Frankfurt and in Duisburg. With the help of Mr Baan, we will play some matches in Holland and against clubs in Duisberg, Cologne etc. We will also play against international sides. The plan is to play 18 games in three months, eight of which would be against national teams.
We return to Goa on August 22 and play matches against other countries most of whom would be arriving early for the tournament (September 15-October 2, 2016).
The German is targeting the semi finals of the Asian U-16 later this year . That will automatically guarantee India a place in the U’17 World Cup on merit . “If we don’t make the (Asian U-16) semis, we will still have one year to prepare. For now, we have planned till February 2017. After the Asian under-16, the boys get a six-week break and then we go to Brazil for one month. After that, we play an indoor 11-a-side tournament in St Petersburg where we meet top teams such as Korea, Japan etc. We are working on the plan between February and October (when the U-17 World Cup starts) because for now the focus is on the Asian under-16 meet. ” signed off the German coach .