FOOTBALL TAKES OVER

Being the second most populated country in the world, India is often criticized for not performing well in football on the global stage. The country has had its fair share of years occupying the ‘100 and below’ positions in the FIFA world rankings but it now sits in the 97th position. The Blue Tigers’ progress over the years is inexplicable and the Indian Colts have been following the road to glory as well.
Being the host nation for the FIFA U17 world cup, the Indian U17 football team does not need to go through the qualifying stages to get selected for the tournament. The team has been surrounded by a lot of intrigue and expectations considering the fact that this will be the first time that India hosts this biennial event. Led by the newly appointed Portuguese head coach Louis Norton de Mates, the host team faces its first opponent, the United States of America on the 6th of October, 2017.

The rendezvous of the tournament and its major participants:
The world cup will be held from 6th of October to 28th of October, 2017 across six major cities; the finals being held at Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata. One of the initial shockers was Nigeria not being able to qualify for the 2017 edition of the world cup given the fact that they were to be the defending champions. This makes Brazil, Chile, Ghana, and Mexico the favorites to win this year.

Host selection process and significance of the emblem and mascot:
Entering into the gray areas of the management of the whole tournament, bids were submitted for the host selection process by 15th of November 2013 and the results were declared on 5th of December 2013.
Given this opportunity to catalyze the promotion of the beautiful game, India did not leave any stone unturned while perfecting every element related to the tournament. This also includes the emblem and the mascot. The emblem subtly incorporates the Indian culture and traditions and modernizes it to bring it to a global level. The mascot is a clouded leopard ‘Kheleo’ which incorporates khel and leopard.

Promotions and ticket sales trivia:
A FIFA legends’ exhibition match set the stage for the upcoming tournament and the country has also been visited by arguably the greatest defender in the world, Carles Puyol, for kicking off the ticket sales. The Barcelona legend handed over the first ticket to Gouri Bhaduri, the senior-most surviving relative of Shibdas Bhaduri, Mohun Bagan’s 1911 IFA Shield winning captain. Coincidentally, the tickets also went on sale on March 16, at 19:11 hours.
The 2017 under-17 world cup is endorsed by people such as Diego Maradona and also by the Prime Minister of India himself.

The Indian Colts
Controlled by the AIFF, the Colts currently participate in three competitions, the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the AFC U-16 Championship and the SAFF U-16 Championship. Although the team has not had any major breakthrough in the U-17 tournaments, they have had their fair share of success in the U-16 championships. Being qualified for the AFC U-16 Championship seven times, it is going to be their maiden attempt in the FIFA world cup. The team has won its only piece of silver in the 2013 SAFF U-16 Championship held in Nepal.

Are the Indian Colts prepared for the world cup?
This being the first under-17 world cup India will be participating in, they are the underdogs to watch out for. The AIFF has made particular preparations which have been necessary and very resourceful. Involvement of foreign coaches, training young talent over multiple phases and providing exposure to this select group of players by flying them around the world are some of the actions taken by the All India Football Federation

The FIFA U17 tournament has given the world hopes to find the next footballing gem in the host team.