Representational imageIt will be a perfect kickoff. India will make their debut in a FIFA World Cup on home turf in October when they will join 23 teams from around the world in a race for the Under-17 title.
India’s emergence as the hosts of the tournament was phenomenal. India scored over the other claimants – Ireland, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan – when FIFA announced the venues for the 2017 World Cup on December 5, 2013.
The 52 matches will be played in Mumbai, New Delhi, Goa, Kochi, Guwahati and Kolkata. India’s challenges were two-pronged when it prepared for the tournament. They had to rev up its national team and also had to get ready the infrastructure to host the games that will put on display the future stars of world football.
All the venues had raced against the deadline in preparation for the World Cup. The groups will be decided by lot in Mumbai on July 7. The D Y Patil Stadium has been chosen as the home ground. The final will be played in the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi will host eight matches. The office-bearers of the football associations chosen to play in Kochi will visit the stadium soon after the fixtures are drawn up. The teams will arrive in Kochi in September and practice for a month. The FIFA plans to add a celebrity touch to the tournament by bringing in the star players to India before the kickoff on October 6.
The World Cup tour will also cover Kerala. The FIFA has put forward a strict set of conditions for the organizers. The state government and the Kochi municipal corporation have their hands full. The city needs more gardens and walkways and more importantly, it has to be free of water-logging.
Fans can do a lot of catching up even before the teams arrive. They can follow their favorite teams and players on social media and interact with other fans over the Internet.
Even the match tickets are available only online. Do not expect a free pass, unlike in the Indian Super League.
The Indian team is busy preparing. The team has played several rounds of friendlies amid the grueling camp based in Goa. German coach Nicolai Adams was replaced by Luis Norton de Matos from Portugal after the players complained of mistreatment.
India played 15 friendlies in Portugal, France, Italy and other European countries under Matos. The team won in four, lost five and drew six. India also drew against the under-17 national teams of Serbia and Macedonia. India beat an Italian team comprising players from the third and fourth leagues. The team lost all but one of the six matches in Russia but came back richer in experience.
India will compete against the other Asian teams including Iran, Iraq, Japan and North Korea in the Under-17 World Cup. Africa is represented by Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Niger. Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States from north and central America and the Caribbean as well as Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay from south America make up the representation from the Americas.
The European presence is marked by England, France, Germany, Spain and Turkey. New Caledonia and New Zealand are the teams from Oceania.
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