Brazil, Spain to match creative touch
CLASH OF TITANS Teams steeped in football history are expected to produce one of the best games in group stage
KOCHI:It couldn’t have been a better match to begin with. When Kochi hosts its first match on Saturday, it will be none other than Brazil and Spain facing off in the Group D opener.
The enthusiasm for the opening match here has been evident from the fact that tickets for the game had been sold out last week, although the stadium’s capacity has been reduced from 41,000 to 29,000 due to security reasons.
Brazil won the U-17 South American Championship earlier this year while Spain lifted the U-17 European Championships this past summer.
With both sides being the pretournament favourites for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, them being drawn in the same group makes things much more interesting.
Saturday’s match assumes huge significance given the fact that the winner of the group is likely to face an easier proposition in Round of 16. The team finishing top of this group will take on the third placed team from one of Groups B, E or F, while the runner-up side will face the winner of Group E, possibly France or Japan. Not only that, winning the group will mean a Round of 16 fixture in Kochi itself, while the team that finishes second here will have to make a long trip to Guwahati for the match against Group E winner. Brazil received a blow ahead of the tournament when Flamengo refused to release Real Madrid-bound forward Vinicius Junior.
However, despite missing their star front man, Brazil are not short of match-winners. Midfielder Alan Souza, forwards Lincoln and Paulinho are among some of the most highly-rated youngsters in the country, and they will hope to leave their mark. “It’s a match between two heavyweights, two very big teams that are arriving as regional champions. It will definitely give us an idea of where we stand in the tournament, and them too. It’s our first match, so it’s our first final,” forward Paulinho told FIFA.com.
Spain, on the other hand, are calm ahead of their high-voltage opener. All eyes will be on Barcelona B striker Abel Ruiz, who had been the team’s star performer at the U-17 European Championships earlier this year. Head coach Santi Denia made to attempt to downplay the importance of the Barcelona star. “Our job is to work together in a group so that he (Ruiz) can perform to his best level,” he said.
Barcelona B full-back Mateu Morey and Real Madrid Juvenil A centre back Victor Chust Garcia are the other key players.