2017 FIFA U17 World Cup: Non-U.S. team and tournament news

Pot 1: India, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Mali, France
Pot 2: Spain, Japan, New Zealand, England, Iran, USA
Pot 3: Costa Rica, Korea DPR, Honduras, Iraq, Turkey, Colombia
Pot 4: Chile, Paraguay, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, New Caledonia

 

Draw is about to commence.

 

A2 Position with India in A1, so (I'm assuming) we will play against them in the first game of the tournament.

 

Could have been better, or worse.

 

2017 u17 South American Qualifying - Colombia finished in 4th place with 7 points in the final stage, going 2-1-2 (W-D-L). They beat Ecuador (who got only 1 point) and Paraguay who finished in 3rd with 8 points. They lost to Brazil 3-0 and Chile 1-0. Tied Venezuela. Just looking at results, appears to be among the weaker teams from South America this cycle.

2017 u17 African Cup of Nations - Ghana finished first in their group 2-1-0 beating Cameroon and Gabon handily (4-0 and 5-0) before drawing Guinea. They beat Niger in penalties before losing to Mali in the final. Through the 5 games, they only allowed 1 goal, so likely a pretty strong defense.

India qualified as hosts and I'm too lazy to look at friendly results.

Edit: India did play in the AFC U16 Championships (Qualifiers) going 0-1-2 and finishing last in their group with a -4 GD. While obviously not the strongest team, playing the host can always cause issues.

 

Of course we get Ghana.

 

Playing in the opening game is a bonus. I'm not sure if anyone has done tournament analysis, but it seems to me that the teams in the last brackets are handicapped as they go deeper in the tournament by having less rest days between games. Injuries that don't have time to heal and just tired legs in the critical stages.

 

Decent draw. Could have been better. Could have been worse. I'll take it.

Lest we forget, the US U17s went on an India trip in 2016. I believe we beat them fairly convincingly...............4-0.

I like the idea of playing them on opening night. Have Indian U17s faced the kind of pressure and scrutiny they're likely to face on opening night? What kinds of crowds are they used to? Kids either gain strength from that or shrink.

In order to advance well we'll need a result against a good team. That's always the case. We have the talent to do so.

 

This is a good draw for us. Mexico got the group of death

 

I think Ghana needs to be added to the death and taxes line.

 

How many wickets will the US take in that match?

Hopefully, the US will get a century or two, too.

 

I don't know if this is news worthy or if its been pointed out yet. But it looks like India has a kid on their roster who plays for Toronto's academy. I'm not going to pretend to know how citizenship works for India, but I'm aware that it's pretty complicated something about how you can't be a duel citizen and residency gets weird or something. I think there was an article about an American kid who is playing for India as well but is now in India playing for an academy, it struck me that it made it easier for him to play for them or something, I'm not entirely sure. I guess in reality I'm trying to pose a question. Is it a big deal for India to have this kid playing abroad on their national team, also is there any buzz about this?

Also, kudos to an MLS academy team having kids who are good enough to play for other youth national team. I'm not certain how common this is in Canada because that's not really information I follow all that often but obviously we're also bringing Ayo Akinola from TFC. I think it's a good sign that MLS is doing something right.

 

I'm not sure if this is the same person brotheryoung mentioned but here's an article on a New Jersey raised player on the Indian U-17 roster - http://m.timesofindia.com/city/goa/...es-to-star-for-india/articleshow/60811885.cms

Excerpt: “I grew up with many of the US players and I now have a chance to prove, not just I, but India are better than they are,” he said, confidence personified.

As a defender, Namit joined the team on a preparatory tour in Brazil and was pleasantly surprised. “To be honest, the Indian defence is a compact unit and play their lines very well. It’s well organized and it’s something I understand better,” Namit observes.

“The US are not really focused on the defensive line. They focus on build-up and just playing the game,” he said.