KOLKATA: While the Indian team was together for close to two years, playing matches in four continents and against 18 countries, Iraq managed only two months of proper practice due to financial constraints. Definitely not the best way to prepare ahead of a World Cup.
The government ended up emptying most of its coffer to counter Islamic State and civil war threats. The Young Lions of Mesopotamia suffered as a result. Coach Qahtan Jathir admitted he wanted his wards to have a preparatory camp in Spain but that fell through. He also wanted to play against top European teams as well as countries who had qualified for the U-17 World Cup, but that didn’t materialise either.
“There were issues because of the financial situation in the country. Our government and federation could not afford, so we had to drop our plans. I wish we played in Europe against strong teams,” Jathir said.
They ended up practising at home for a limited amount of time, against average sides. The situation at home is not ideal, especially with constant bombings. The atmosphere of uncertainty has affected the senior side, who are forced to play all home matches in Iran.
“We had to play neighbouring clubs and teams to avoid major expenses. We practised for only two months at home. Our facilities are not that good anymore. We had to play against average teams like Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia. We played against a few Iraqi clubs as well.”
The 2007 AFC Asian Cup winning generation is a massive inspiration for the team. The coach added that the players want to emulate their role models in order to give people back home something to cheer. Their 1-1 draw against two-time champions Mexico on Sunday was a huge step in that direction. “We hope we will do our own bit like the 2007 generation. This was our first ever World Cup point and a perfect start. Hopefully, the boys can carry on from here.”
Unknown factor
While England coach Steve Cooper spoke about the importance of scouting the opposition and doing their due diligence ahead of games, Chile coach Hernán Caputto said it was difficult trying to get information about Iraq.
“We did see videos of them from the U-16 Asian Championship but apart from that, things they changed in the run-up to the tournament and new players, we have no idea. We will see them during training and in matches and figure out a plan to counter them.”
As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining!
