Coach fails to book night-time slot, Indians train in daylight

New Delhi, The strangely casual approach of India’s Under-17 football team coach, Luis Norton de Matos, has denied the boys an opportunity to train under the floodlights at the JLN Stadium here before their World Cup matches.
Instead, the Indian U-17 team has been able to find only day-time slots for practice, while their matches are scheduled for an 8pm start.
FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, had identified different slots for 24 participating teams in the tournament to hold their training sessions. Each team was required to book their time slots in advance.
But Matos’ inability to make and convey the decisions to FIFA on time saw Colombian coach Orlando Restrepo book the prime slot of 6pm-8pm for his 21-member team.
The Colombians, the first team to arrive in the national capital for their campaign, have been practising under the floodlights in the 6pm-8pm slot at the Conscient Football Academy in Gurugram. The Indian team had no choice other than opting for the 4pm-6pm slot.
The two teams are currently staying in Gurugram at different hotels and would shift base to Delhi on October 2. Until then, the two teams would practise at the Conscient Academy. The same time slots would be allotted for practice at the JLN Stadium.
Light matters
“We are the hosts but can’t practise under the floodlights. And we are supposed to play all our matches in the evening. This is not an ideal scenario,” said an Indian football federation (AIFF) official.
“It would have been great to practise during the evening time. This way, the boys could have got the required feel. Matos should have worked out all these details in advance,” the official said, but added: “Nonetheless, the team is a confident bunch of footballers and the boys are ready to give their best during the tournament. Can’t make the floodlights an excuse.”
India would play their first match of the tournament against the USA on October 6, followed by matches against Colombia (October 9) and Ghana (October 12).
First session
The Indian team today had its first training session at the Conscient Academy after landing in the capital on Tuesday. Before that, they had been camping in Goa for a while. The young team practised for close to two hours on half-ground, indulging in tactical training along with focusing on set-pieces and other technical manoeuvres.
“The level of enthusiasm in the camp is very high,” Matos said. “We are prepared and the team has grown exponentially in the last couple of months. We plan to show the world that we are on the same page as the rest of the teams in the World Cup.”