KOCHI: It is quite remarkable that Spain, despite their dominance at the senior and junior levels in world football over the past decade or so, are yet to triumph in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. They have come close on three occasions — 1991 in Italy, 2003 in Finland and 2007 in South Korea — but lost in the final each time to settle as runners-up.
However, after defeating Iran 3-1 in the quarterfinal here on Sunday to set up a clash with Mali in the last-four, the Spaniards are sensing this could finally be their time to shine in this age group. “Everyone in this team wants to continue the good work we did at the U-17 Euros to win the World Cup,” coach Santiago Denia had said before the tournament began.
Abel Ruiz, Sergio Gomez and Ferran Torres were on the scoresheet as they overcame Iran, who had previously stunned Germany 4-0. “It is important for us to have qualified for the semifinals. We did the job almost perfectly and I want to highlight the performance of my players,” said Denia after the game.
“We knew that trying to play through the inside of the Iran defence was going to be difficult. In the second half, we knew they will have to move forward and we will then have spaces to attack,” he added.
Their next opponents are Mali, the 2017 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations champions. “Mali, like all African teams, are fast and have a strong game in transition. We are going to start preparing for them and work hard to win the semifinal to book our spot in the final. We still have a lot of areas to improve, especially the defence, as we have been conceding a few goals,” said Denia. Meanwhile, Iran coach Abbas Chamanian said Spain deserved to reach the semis. “We showed too much respect for them. Our problem was with the connection between the defence and attack.”
adwaidh@newindianexpress.com