19 October,2017 09:02 AM IST | Kolkata | Kashinath Bhattacharjee
Germany is the second most successful nation in FIFA World Cup tournaments with four titles. But the giants in the senior World Cup are yet to win the junior version, despite participating on nine occasions
Germany is the second most successful nation in FIFA World Cup tournaments with four titles. But the giants in the senior World Cup are yet to win the junior version, despite participating on nine occasions.
However, German coach Christian Wueck stressed their focus has been to groom the U-17 players. "It's normal to think about winning the trophy when you are in the last eight. But we have a long way to go. We have not won this trophy and it will be great to win it this time. We look at it differently in Germany. For us, this is a development tournament and we want to ensure our future generation of footballers get the chance to play such tournaments in World or European levels," Wueck said.
The German colts lost 0-4 to Iran in the group stage of the U-17 World Cup, but bounced back in the last 16 to beat Colombia 4-0.
Germany captain Jann-Fiete Arp already has four goals in his kitty from four matches. Having played in Goa, Kochi, New Delhi and now in Kolkata, the European giants have been the most traveled outfit in the tournament. If they win here on Sunday, Germany will then travel to Guwahati for the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Germany's coach was concerned about the training facilities at most venues.
