It will be a historic occasion when more than 50,000 people will be present at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on the opening day of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 on Friday when India will make their World Cup debut against the USA. The excitement is expected to touch fever pitch once the referee kicks-off the 2nd game of the day.
Hard Nut To Crack
India will face USA on 6 October, Colombia on 9 October and Ghana on 12 October in their group. It will be a tough task for the host nation to make an impact on such nations.
India qualified automatically for the event as hosts. They have prepared well in training tours in Europe and a tournament in Mexico but the hosts are the clear underdogs. Known for its man-to-man marking, USA is the clear favorites in the Group A match.
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India’s head coach Luis Norton de Matos is aware of the challenges they faced USA, who beat them by 4-0 in Goa just a year ago but he has faith on his team’s fighting abilities. “We will fight to win each match even if there is only five percent chance of winning. We will not give up and nothing is impossible in football. We plan to show the world that we are on the same page as them,” de Matos said.
Players
The Indian Team will be led by Amarjit Singh (C), who along with the other midfielders Jeakson Singh, Suresh Singh, Aniket Jadhav and Komal Thatal will be expected to shoulder the burden of troubling the US defense.
India will begin without Boris Singh who is carrying a red card offense earlier, and it is up to the Sanjeev Stalin, Anwar Ali and Namit Deshpande, who will have to hold the strong in front of the goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh.
“The process starts at the back and it will be very crucial to defend well. Everyone will have to defend, because that is the way to get a result,” said by coach.
Nation Support
PM Narendra Modi, FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura and head of FIFA tournaments Jaime Yarza will be there on the inaugural day match between India and the USA in the U-17 World Cup.
In the morning PM Narendra Modi tweeted “A warm welcome and best wishes to all teams taking part in the @FIFAcom. I am sure #FIFAU17WC will be a treat for football lovers.”
A warm welcome and best wishes to all teams taking part in the @FIFAcom. I am sure #FIFAU17WC will be a treat for football lovers.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 6, 2017
Sportstars and celebrities also gave there wishes to the India football team for their debut in FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Sending my best wishes to Team India! We are all rooting for you, make us proud ?? @IndianFootball #BackTheBlue #FIFAU17WC pic.twitter.com/5zd1cweR7x
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) October 5, 2017
Good Luck boys, make us proud! ? #BackTheBlue #FifaU17WC @indianfootball pic.twitter.com/RlqdgN0w7n
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) October 2, 2017
My best wishes to the @IndianFootball U-17 team for the World Cup! Enjoy your game & chase your dreams because dreams do come true! @FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/lrqgX1olD5
— sachin tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 5, 2017
