Luis Norton de Matos, the head coach of India’s Under-17 team remained optimistic ahead of the upcoming World Cup in October and said the team was becoming more confident as they played every game.
“It is vital to detect weakness when facing challenges during the games,” said Matos in an All India Football Federation media release on Thursday after India recently participated in a Four-Nation tournament in Mexico. India suffered heavy defeats against Mexico and Colombia but bounced back with a gritty 1-1 draw against the runner-up of the U-17 South American Championship, Chile.
“We suffered five goals from corners and that reflects that we need to work on our positioning in set pieces. We need to concentrate, communicate and defend well in corners,” advised the coach.
However, he was full of praise for his team’s performance against Chile.
“The team lost its shyness with every passing game in the Four-Nation Tournament and they unveiled their personality one game at a time,” he said, “The ultimate reward of that was the last game against Chile which finished in a draw.”
Chile’s head coach also praised the team: “India is a team that will compete and will make their country proud, you can tell there is a lot of work from Luis and what he has achieved with the players”.