FIFA U-17 World Cup: Chile forced into roadside media meet in Kolkata

The city that is most excited about the FIFA U-17 World Cup got its first real feel of the event with the media being barred.

That meant Chile head coach Hernan Caputo and goalkeeper Julio Borquez had their first media interaction in India on the sidewalk of one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. And in the din of a Durga Puja immersion procession.

The whole episode seemed to be the doing of the club where Iraq and Chile had their first training session on Monday evening.

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The Chile media manager, Waleska Fuchslocher, told journalists that not allowing them to watch training for the first 15 minutes, “according to FIFA protocol”, was “not the team’s decision”.

And just to show how egalitarian the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (CCFC) was in its dealing with the media, the 225-year old club ensured that a Chilean journalist too waited outside.

So on the sidewalk outside the club, the coach and his goalie spoke.

Chile coach Hernan Caputo was forced to hold his press conference on a sidewalk. (HT Photo)

Trained for 6 months

The team, Caputo said, has trained for six months but has also added four players to the squad that was runners-up to Brazil in the South American championships.

“Our preparation has been good but you must understand that this is an under-17 side. So, my job is to get them to focus on the basics so that the boys gain from this experience,” said the coach.

Caputo said he has learnt a lot from Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Sampaoli, both former senior national team coaches. “They are very important people for Chile football and they are friends so we work well together.”

This bunch, Caputo said, has also taken advice from senior internationals such as Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal and others because “they are not just an inspiration to footballers but to the whole country”.

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SRK inspiration

Caputo also said that all the teams in group F are tough and he wouldn’t like to meet them again.

And that they have been truly inspired as a group with the film ‘Chak de! India’. “We now want to say ‘Chak de Chile!’”

Earlier, Iraq trained at the club and a team official said through a social media platform that they were happy with the facilities and optimistic about their chances in this biennial competition.