FIFA U-17 World Cup: India has a small percentage of winning against USA, says coach

Rank-outsiders India may have a “small percentage” of winning their tournament opener in the FIFA U-17 World Cup against what he expects to be an attacking USA team, coach Luis Norton de Matos said on Thursday.

“USA and for that matter Ghana and Colombia in our group are big sides, top level teams. We know we have a small percentage of winning against the US but you never know what will happen in a game of football,” de Matos told reporters at match-eve press conference here.

“We will prepare well for this small percentage and try to make these small possibilities count. We want to fight as a team and with help from the 12th man (the home supporters) we hope we can compete against them,” he added.

Portuguese de Matos said India, making their debut in the FIFA U-17 showpiece event, would look to be a strong defensive unit and hit on counter attacks through quick transitions from defence to offense.

“I would like to have an effective defence as the US are very strong in attack. They have the No. 9 (Josh Sargent) and Timothy (Weah) and Andrew Carleton, they are very good attackers. They are a physical side also and they …read more