India vs USA, FIFA U-17 World Cup: Not happy with the result, says India coach Luis Norton de Matos

India coach Luis Norton de Matos thinks more games will raise team’s game in the future. (Source: AP)

India coach Luis Norton de Matos expressed displeasure with the final result of India’s debut at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in which the colts went down 0-3 to a much experienced United States team. At the same time, the coach also expressed contentment with the collective effort displayed by the side at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.

With the clock ticking down in the second half, Anwar Ali came closest to opening India’s tally at any FIFA World Cup but his effort came off the woodwork. This allowed USA to go on the counter-attack and add one more to their tally to seal off the contest.

“I’m happy with the collective effort of the players for the team, but not happy with the results. As I had said, there is a big gap between us and other teams in our group. We got the punishment from them. But, with some more experience, they can play better against teams with calibre.”

“If we had scored that goal, the scoreline would have been 2-1 and USA would been different in the last 10 minutes. That could have changed the complexion,” said Matos at the post-match press conference.

Prior to the match, the Portuguese had called on the crowd to be India’s ’12th man’ and an attendance of over 46,000 did not disappoint. “There is a big gap between our Team and other Teams in our group. We conceded a stupid goal in the first half. At half-time, it was very much possible to overturn the game,” he stated at the official press conference. “The ambience was perfect. I need to thank the fans for turning up.”

India started slowly and failed to find their feet in the opening half with USA dictating play. Had India started any better, Mattos believes, things could have been different. “This is the first time our players were playing in front of a crowd of 40,000 and that too, against a Team of the quality of USA,” he pronounced. “My players were shy at the beginning. It’s very hard to control emotions at this level. We were more confident in the second half. For Indian players the experience of playing in the World Cup will help them in the long run.”