What India could not do, Niger did it in style. The debutant nation in the U-17 World Cup went a step further by registering a 1-0 win against North Korea in their maiden appearance in the competition
What India could not Niger did in style. The debutant nation in the U17 World Cup went a step further by registering a win against DPR Korea 1-0 in their first appearance in the competition. Not only that, Niger was the reason Nigeria could not reach to defend their U17 World Champion crown! An extremely poor and small West African nation had beaten the last two editions' champions in the qualifiers. One of the hot favourites and the UEFA U17 champion Spain will have to play a lot better against the African nation to bounce back in the tournament after their 1-2 defeat to Brazil in the opening match.
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Santi Denia
With five footballers from the Real Madrid academy and four from the La Masia, Spain does have the necessary talent to make a successful come back in the tournament. What worries them, however, is the hot and humid conditions of Kochi. "Yes, it was a problem. The hot and humid conditions here had its toll on players from all the countries. But our medical team is working on everyone and I shall select the best XI to play the most important match for us now. We don't have any injuries to be worried", said the coach Santiago.
"The aim is to qualify for the knockout. We have to win against Niger who have won their first match and made things complicated for us." The team was seen to work on their fancied formation of 4-3-3 on practice this morning for an hour in Kochi. Lot will depend upon their captain Abel Ruiz, a La Masia product who had five goals in the UEFA U17 competition in May to win the crown. However, four of those goals were from the spot.
Ruiz will be needed to form a formidable combination with Ferran Torres and Sergio Gomez to earn a victory. A draw here can derail the campaign for the nation where tikitaka reigns supreme.
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