-By AIFF Media

History beckons for Indian football as twenty one players have been selected for the first ever Indian squad to participate in a FIFA World Cup, the Indian U-17 World Cup Squad, which will participate in the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 India.

India have been drawn in Group A alongside USA, Colombia and Ghana, and will face USA on October 06, followed by Colombia and Ghana on October 09 and October 12 respectively at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

“We believe that we are prepared for the FIFA U-17 World Cup”, said Head Coach of the India U-17s Luis Norton de Matos. “We have worked hard and made progress, but at the same time we go directly to a high level competition against some of the best teams in the world”

“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”, Matos added.

In an effort to field a strong team for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 India, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) provided exposure tours for the India U-17s wherein the Indian Colts faced Macedonia, Serbia and Benfica amongst other teams. The Indian Colts had also participated in a Four-Nation Tournament in Mexico where they lost against Mexico and Colombia, but held Chile to a 1-1 draw with ten-man.

“Against Chile and Macedonia we registered good results but the FIFA U-17 World Cup will be a competition and competitions are different from friendly matches”, Matos informed.

“However, the level of the players is very high and we plan to give it our all once the FIFA U-17 World Cup kicks-off”, Matos quipped.

The list of the 21 selected players follows below:

GOALKEEPERS: Dheeraj Singh, Prabhsukhan Gill, Sunny Dhaliwal

DEFENDERS: Boris Singh, Jitendra Singh, Anwar Ali, Sanjeev Stalin, Hendry Antonay, Namit Deshpande

MIDFIELDERS: Suresh Singh, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Abhijit Sarkar, Komal Thatal, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Nongdamba Naorem, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Md. Shahjahan

FORWARDS: Rahim Ali, Aniket Jadhav

Also Read: New captain announced for India’s U17 World Cup Campaign

The post India announce squad for U17 World Cup appeared first on Football Counter.

Pic credit: @FIFA.com

After hosting Carles Puyol, Esteban Cambiasso and Nwankwo Kanu as part of the lead-up to the FIFA U-17 World Cup, India will now welcome few more FIFA Legends as Carlos Valderrama, Fernando Morientes, Marcel Desailly, Jorge Campos and Emmanuel Amuneke join the Trophy Experience on 6 September to mark “30 days to go” until the start of the first FIFA tournament in the country.

The Legends will take part in the Mumbai leg of the Trophy Experience and will play in an exhibition match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai to celebrate what is poised to be the biggest football tournament in India’s history.

An iconic star of Colombian and South American football, Carlos Valderrama, “El Pibe”, played in three editions of the FIFA World Cup in a decorated career spanning more than two decades. Fernando Morientes featured in two editions of the FIFA World Cup for Spain and is fondly remembered for his three UEFA Champions League trophies with Real Madrid. Marcel Desailly was part of the French side that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and went on to captain Les Bleus to two FIFA Confederations Cup titles in 2001 and 2003, winning numerous other trophies along the way.

The striker-turned-goalkeeper Jorge Campos revolutionised the art of goalkeeping and was Mexico’s undisputed first-choice custodian in successive editions of the FIFA World Cup – USA 1994 and France 1998. A former Nigeria international, who played at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and won Olympic gold in 1996, Emmanuel Amuneke has embarked upon a successful coaching career that saw him lead the Golden Eaglets to glory at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015 in Chile.

Also Read: India beat Nepal 2-1 to lift SAFF U15 Championship

“The FIFA U-17 World Cup in India will be a milestone in the history of football. I look forward to joining the Trophy Experience, which will bring the excitement of this landmark event even closer to Indian fans. There are great expectations in Colombia ahead of the first participation of our team since Nigeria 2009,” said FIFA Legend Carlos Valderrama.

Chairman and AIFF President Praful Patel expressed his delight, “Starting today, we’re just a month away from the biggest football tournament our country has witnessed. Immense effort has gone into the preparation, both on and off the pitch, and we’re really close to seeing it all bear fruit. Today, as part of the ongoing Official Trophy Experience, we mark the final milestone in the run-up to the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. In a month’s time, we hope to see spectators turn out in large numbers and play their part in putting India on the global footballing map.”

The Trophy Experience will see the Official Winner’s Trophy of the FIFA U-17 World Cup scheduled to be displayed in Mumbai on September 6, giving Mumbaikers the chance to be part of the football festival and to see the same trophy that will be lifted at the finals in Kolkata on 28 October.

The post FIFA Legends to join U17 WC Trophy Experience in Mumbai appeared first on Football Counter.

Pic courtesy: Franck Fife/AFP

With only two months to go before the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 kicks off, the FIFA Referees Committee has appointed 21 trios of match officials along with 7 Support Referee, representing all six confederations.

Some of the selected match officials for U-17 world cup, India 2017 are also part of FIFA’s flagship competition, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. For others India will be the chance to show case their quality.

Although no Indian referee was selected for the competition, a landmark decisions was still taken by FIFA in the selection of Female referees for a men’s tournament. The results and improvements seen in the joint preparations have shown that the time has come for elite female referees to officiate in men’s competitions together with their male colleagues.

“We think it’s time for elite female referees to be involved in a FIFA men’s competition. They worked together with male match officials last year and now we want to see them working together in a competition,” said FIFA Head of Refereeing Massimo Busacca.

Also Read: FIFA U-17 WC trophy experience to kick off in New Delhi on Saturday

The referees have completed a host of activities together in several seminars, including theoretical sessions in the classroom and practical sessions on the field of play. The match officials have also discussed and practiced various game situations to achieve consistency and uniformity.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 will take place in Goa, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Navi Mumbai and New Delhi between 6 and 28 October 2017. The final will be played at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata on 28 October.

The post FIFA makes a landmark decision for U17 World Cup appeared first on Football Counter.

Pic credit: @India.com

Football fans and families across India are invited to be part of the trophy experience. In a first of a kind experience, thousands of children from Mission XI Million, football fans, residents and tourists in the national capital will have the chance to see the FIFA U-17 World Cup official winner’s trophy.

Tomorrow, the official trophy will be placed at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium where a Mission XI Million festival will be held. Children taking part in the football festival organised by the legacy programme of the World Cup, Mission XI Million, will get the chance to see the Official Trophy.

On Sunday, the trophy will be located at the iconic location of India Gate. A popular tourist spot in the capital, fans can come and see the beautiful piece of silverware and take photographs with it.

Also Read: Sandesh Jhingan to lead India against Mauritius

“This is a start of an incredible journey. The first actual FIFA World Cup to come to India, and it’s a once in a lifetime experience for someone to come close enough to it, to take a picture with it, to be with something that the world will be vying for in less than two months’ time. This is really special,” said Joy Bhattacharjya, Project Director of the LOC, FIFA U-17 World Cup.

The idea behind the Trophy Experience is to give everyone in India a truly unique experience to see the FIFA U-17 World Cup official winner’s trophy up close.

Football fans and families across India are invited to be part of the trophy experience at all six host cities, learn more about the tournament, and have their photographs taken with the same trophy the winning team lifts on October 28th. The trophy will be on a country wide tour travelling almost 9000 km in a 40-day period between August 17 and September 26 stopping over in the 6 host cities. The six venues are New Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata, Mumbai, Goa, Kochi

The post FIFA U-17 WC trophy experience to kick off in New Delhi on Saturday appeared first on Football Counter.

After the board put out an advertisement for a new head coach of U-17 team, more than 75 applicants have come for this coveted yet challenging position. “There are a lot of interesting CVs from around the world. More time is needed,” said an AIFF official.

Although the board has been tight lipped about the names of coaches to have applied for the post, according to sources some high profile names have come forward. The names include a coach associated with Real Madrid, another successful coach from Portugal’s junior teams, while a coach with big success in the I-League (probably Ashley Westwood) was also in contention, a recommendation from AIFF’s partners Club Atletico Paranaense from Brazil has also come forward.

Former England defender and England U-21 team coach, Stuart Pearce, is another high profile name associated with the vacant India under-17 coaching position. Another familiar name on the shortlist is former AIFF technical director and Under-19 coach Colm Toal, who has 37 years of coaching experience including 7 years in India itself.

Also Read: Charged up Mumbai girls emerge champions

“We have a shortlist of about seven coaches at the moment from 75 applications. We will review the applications once again on Monday and then start video calls with all these names. May be, once we have an idea of what each coach can bring to the team, we will call the final two candidates for an interview here,” said AIFF general secretary Kushal Das.

The AIFF wants to have a new coach in place before March 1 and had made it clear that coaches who are willing to take up the assignment at short notice would be preferred. At present, Indian senior team coach Stephen Constantine has been temporarily given the colts responsibilities.

With just months left for U-17 World Cup, whoever becomes the new head coach, he will be expected to have a huge task and a very short time to deliver.

The post New U-17 Coach search Intensifies with rumoured big names in contention appeared first on Football Counter.