‘Late start means heat won’t be a problem’
KO L KAT A: Germany’ s requirement to be at their best in this under-17 World Cup is simple: all they need is a good pitch. Weather conditions don’t matter, said coach Christian Wu ck here on Wednesday.
Germany are here for Sunday’s quarter-final after cruising 4-0 past Colombia and though they seemed more comfortable playing in New Delhi, where it was cooler, after being based in Goa, Wuck said it won’t make a difference.
“But it is very good that we are playing at 8pm which means it would be less than 30 degrees (Centigrade),” he said, after a light workout with some of his players late in the morning when the temperature and humidity was more than what Wu ck would have described as ideal.
“It is very hot here but it is not important that we played in New Delhi last. All we need is a good pitch. The pitch is New Delhi was good and I am sure it will be so here too,” said Wuck.
That Germany have won four men’ s World Cup titles but are yet to be champions as teenagers --their best is a third-place finish in 2007 --- doesn’t bother his boys, said Wu ck .“For us, development is very important. It doesn’t matter that we haven’t won this World Cup. We have a good programme and our target now is to get these boys to be good enough to play at the under-18level. That is the first step. So it is important that players take part in tournaments as these. It becomes an important part of their development,” said Wuck.
Germany will miss wide player, Dennis Jastrzembski, who is suspended for the quarterfinal.
They began with a labour ed 2-1 win against Costa Rica, were stunned 0-4 by Iran before recovering to beat Guinea 3-1 and qualify for the round of 16. Their best match so far came in the first knockout round where they made the most of some basic errors from Colombia.
GERMANY WILL MISS WIDE PLAYER, DENNIS JASTRZEMBSKI, WHO IS SUSPENDED FOR THE QUARTERFINAL.