AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: Head Coach of the Indian U-17 National Team Luis Norton de Matos praised the “extraordinary never-say-die attitude” of the Indian U-17 World Cup Squad in the Four-Nation Tournament wherein the Indian Colts faced Chile, Colombia, and Mexico in Mexico City earlier this month.

“The boys were extraordinary attitude wise. They demonstrated enormous capacity of sacrifice and adaptation in the conditions that were extremely hard”, Matos said.

The Indian Colts although lost against Colombia and hosts Mexico, came back from behind to play out a 1-1 draw against Chile with a man down in the second half.

“Travelling 41 hours to arrive in Mexico, finding a time difference with India of almost 11 hours at an altitude of 2300 meters and having to play the first 2 games in consecutive days without the necessary time to adapt, was challenging”

“The Squad combated it excellently. The players fought to exhaustion, and that will have to be the mark of pride for India in general and its football lovers. Another great victory was that the players were spared from any injuries”, Matos reflected.

The Indian U-17s faced Mexico on August 03 where the Colts conceded two late goals to go down 5-1 and took on Colombia on August 04 wherein they lost 3-0. Against Chile on August 06, the Indian Colts drew 1-1.