NEW DELHI: It was a harsh introduction to world football for India's U-17 team at on Friday. One could tell how disappointed they were by the way they walked out of the stadium to the team bus. Silent, shoulders stooped, trying not to look anyone in the eye, pretending not to heed any of the waiting bunch of reporters calling out their names.
On Saturday, as they walked into their practice session at one of the training pitches, there were few smiles around. Team officials confirmed that they had taken the loss hard, silent except for discussion amongst themselves as to what went wrong. It was not just that they had lost, but how they had lost, two of the goals being results of momentary lapses of concentration.
Midfielder Suresh Singh, though, said the players were now focused on the next game. "It (the loss) is part of the game," he said. "We have forgotten that result. We are thinking of the Colombia match and looking to give our best."
While there was definitely chatter among the boys as to how the game panned out, Suresh did not get to participate in any of that. He had to go in for a random dope test soon after the game. "I returned to the hotel a little late," he said. "I was called up for a random dope test. When I went back, there was no one in the dining hall. I didn't really get to discuss the match with anyone."
He nevertheless provided some insight into the mindset of the team, when they lined up for the country's first ever World Cup match. "Our mindset was to reach half-time 0-0," he said. "But at the late part, we conceded a penalty. At half-time, we just told ourselves, let's stay focussed and give more of what we did in the first half.
Our strategy was that we defend in our own half and then go on the counter. "Our final pass was not good. We should make our final pass better and score. Yesterday we had around 3-4 chances to score and missed. If we focus on that, we can do better."
Despite the result, he confirmed that the entire team had enjoyed the moment when they walked out to a packed stadium for a history-making game. "We are 17-year-olds and it was our first time playing in front of a crowd of 45,000 people. But we were not nervous," he said. "It was a fantastic moment for us. It was a first World Cup match and India playing in a World Cup is a history-making thing. Sunil Chhetri has
never played a World Cup and he told us that he would give 15 years of his career to play one."
vishnu.prasad@newindianexpress.com