A positive sounding, bespectacled Luís Norton de Matos, head coach of the India U-17 World Cup team said, “The team has progressed a lot and with less than two-and-a-half months to go, the squad will be giving their best in preparation. We are very confident going into the World Cup.”
Speaking at a media interaction in New Delhi where the team is currently training, the chief coach said his focus was both on emotional and technical areas. Matos took charge of the host team in March this year after his predecessor Nikolai Adams resigned under controversial circumstances. “I try to make them emotionally strong on and off the pitch. I want to be their friend to keep their confidence and guide them in confidence,” he added.
Playing in the first World Cup, it is not an easy task for both the coach and his wards. “Indian football has no history of World Cup. It's very difficult for any team to be ready for a competition like that. Teams like Italy, Brazil, Spain all have seven years of competition behind them before coming into this tournament.” He pointed out that it is a totally different ball game playing friendlies and playing World Cup matches as the team would find out too.
He was extremely happy with the team's progress on the European tour where the Indian colts faced Serbia, Macedonia and S.L. Benfica among other clubs. “Since I came here, we have played 25 friendlies. We have produced good football, but it does not matter when there are no points for your performances. However, we showed in Europe that Indian players are at par with European players...The coming months will be tough because the players will have to concentrate hard, but as a team we cannot be more confident going into the first game, because I believe we can make an impression”, Matos said.
India has been drawn into Group A of the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 India along with United States of America (USA), Colombia and Ghana. The hosts will clash swords against USA on October 6, before facing Colombia on October 9 and Ghana on October 11.
On the group India have been drawn in, Matos said, “Our possibilities are small, but we have a winning mentality. We have the winning spirit in us and will give our cent per cent even if we have less chance of winning the match. After the draw, our players (Sanjeev Stalin and Dheeraj Singh) told me that coach we can win against them. My goal is to show the world that the Indian team can play at par with the best of the world”
There is also some alterations he has brought in the playing style. Under Adams, the team was being coached to play the tight German style. “Indian players can play like Portuguese players with holding the ball, keeping the ball and playing with the ball. And India has the potential to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in the coming years. We have spent hours on developing the passing technique and playing in close quarters and in the next few months we will be doing further good things,”the Portuguese said.
Matos was extremely impressed with the work ethic and commitment of his wards. “The forte of my team is their hard work. The boys give their cent per cent all the time and are very very concentrated on the job. The players follow footballing ideas very well and it is fascinating how quickly they can play different styles of football. But at the same time, they need to be intelligent on the field.”
