India U-17 football coach hails team boys

New Delhi: India’s Under-17 football coach Luis Norton de Matos said his wards had moved from “generating hope” to “doing something significant” as they had gained experience in the ongoing World Cup at home. India finished winless in Group A but generated interest with their fearless yet controlled style of play, as millions followed them on TV and thousands rooted for them at the Jawaharlal Stadium here.

Midfielder Suresh Singh said he was proud that this team “made people of India fall in love with football”, while de Matos too had rich words for his players.
The Portuguese, who has a couple of meetings lined-up with the AIFF in the coming week to assess his future, said “this bunch needs to progress”. “I am proud and pleasantly surprised by the behaviour of my boys in the three matches they played. I am sure this generation is the one for future and the learning process has to go on,” de Matos said.