India U-17 coach Luís Norton de Matos (Photo courtesy: AIFF Media)
With less than 50 days to go for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, the Indian U-17 national team Head Coach Luís Norton de Matos believes that the Indian colts are unveiling personality with every passing game.
The Indian U-17s had travelled to Mexico City, Mexico to participate in a Four-National Tournament inclusive of Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Although India lost two (against Colombia and Mexico) and drew against Chile, Matos stated that, “It is vital to detect weakness when facing challenges during the games”.
“We suffered five goals from corners and that reflects that we need to work on our positioning in set pieces.”
“We need to concentrate, communicate and defend well in corners,” Matos added.
However, against Chile the Indian U-17s came back from a goal down to draw 1-1 and played with a man down in the second half.
“The team lost its shyness with every passing game in the Four-Nation Tournament and they unveiled their personality one game at a time.”
“The ultimate reward of that was the last game against Chile which finished in a draw,” Matos informed.
The Head Coach of the Chile U-17s Hérnan Caputto also showered praise on the playing style of the Indian colts. “It was a very difficult match, the way India approached the match was very interesting,” Caputto had said.
“We started 1-0, we had some chances, but India came out and started putting pressure on us with very fast transitions and in a counterattack they scored.”
“It was deserving, India is a team that will compete and will make their country proud, you can tell there is a lot of work from Luís and what he has achieved with the players,” Caputto concluded.
(AIFF Media)