The second poorest country in the world, politically unstable with widespread lawlessness. Reasons are plenty for a country like Niger to focus on much more important things than promoting sports. But the last two years have been remarkable for Niger in sports. First, it was Abdoul Razak Issoufou, who won a silver medal in Taekwondo at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. And now it's their U-17 football team, called Mena Junior, that is making the country proud. After knocking out defending U-17 World Cup champions Nigeria in the qualifying phase, Niger made their World Cup debut memorable by beating North Korea at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Saturday by a solitary goal. Life is tough in Niger. A country which has a poor ranking in the United Nations Human Index has only the Central African Republic behind them in human development list. An average person in this African country survives on less than a dollar a day. Political unrest has been a major hurdle in their development and slavery was declared illegal as recent as in 2004.
Despite the adversaries, the 'little heroes' from Niger is making their countrymen proud. The win against Korea will only add to the impetus of Niger's rise as a sporting power, feels their assistant coach Hamidou Harouna. "We are participating in the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time and we have started on a winning note. The team and the country are happy. The game was telecast live on TV and a lot of people watched it back there. This team is writing a new page in the history of Niger football. We will never forget this win," said Harouna after team's practice at Maharaja's College ground on Sunday. Just after landing in India, Niger coach Ismalia Tiemoko had promised just one thing. "I can't guarantee that we'll go on and win the competition but I can guarantee that we'll make people talk about us, just like we did in Africa. Maybe we can't work miracles, but we can do our best."
The players seem intent on delivering coach's promise.
The win means a lot for Mena Junior. A decent show in the remaining games would open more doors for the young footballers in the country, feels Harouna. "Of course, this World Cup means a lot for the kids. Some of they may get a call from foreign clubs sooner or later. But at the moment, we don't want our youngsters to worry about such things. Right now, our focus is just on the tournament," he added.
After receiving many congratulatory messages from home after their win over North Korea, the African country is looking forward to their match against Spain on Tuesday. "Spain is a big team and everyone knows that. We are not worried about our opponents and we will try to play to our strength. We believe in ourselves and we know that if we win that game we will qualify for the next round," he said.
"Why was the Samba missing in the first 15 minutes?"
The question sounded almost accusatory. But it brought a smile to Brazil coach Carlos Amadeu's face.
"As you can imagine with youngsters playing in their first ever World Cup, we started nervously. But we got better," he told journalists at the post-match press conference after his side's narrow 2-1 win over Spain in their FIFA U-17 World Cup opener.
The journalist's poser was understandable.
There is a magic you associate with Brazilian football. You expect it each time the Brazilians take the field. You look for it even when they are training. You demand it each time the players touch the ball.
That magic didn't work as powerfully as you would expect against Spain, but the Brazilian team still held the 21,000-odd spectators at Kochi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium spellbound.
The supporters, many of them sporting Brazil's canary yellow jersey or wearing bandanas with 'BRAZIL' written on them, had been milling around outside the stadium since four hours before kick-off. As trumpets blared and fans chanted in Malayalam, a surreal carnival-like atmosphere reigned. No one was immune from the excitement, which has hung around in the air from quite some days now. The guards frisking you at Kochi's metro station want to know who Brazil are playing. The bellboys at hotels ask if they can get their hands on any tickets, which had become scarcer than love for Neymar in the city of Barcelona.
Once the match began, each attack from the Brazilians which went awry elicited a groan from the fans, some of whom had made four-hour journeys from places like Trivandrum to watch an U-17 team. There was some amount of table thumping and sighing in the press box too.
"The atmosphere was perfect. We could feel the energy of the crowd supporting us," Brazil's goal-scorer Lincoln said after the match.
Since the Brazilians landed here a week ago, it has been evident that they have captured the imagination of the city. Brazil-mania has gripped Kochi. It was writ large in the Vinicius jerseys fans sported during the match. It manifested itself when thousands of fan turned up to watch Brazil's first training session in Kochi. It's not an exaggeration to say that there were more fans at the training venue in Kochi to watch the team train than there were watching them beat New Zealand in a training match at the Mumbai Football Arena last month.
"We're feeling like we're at home here. We felt really welcome here in India, especially in Kochi. We could feel the crowd shouting for us ever since we walked on to the pitch to start our warm-up (against Spain).
"Whenever I came here for technical visits after the World Cup draw, I could see this synergy with Brazil from the fans of Kerala. I also realised this coincidence of the local team Kerala Blasters also playing in yellow jerseys," Amadeu said.
Brazil have been made to feel like the home team at Kochi. And as with every home team, there are huge expectations from this Brazil team.
"If you compare our game against Spain to the South American competition, you will see that we didn't start the tournament there too at our best. We know that today we didn't play our best football, but as in the South American championship, we're going to get better as the competition progresses. We're going to raise our level," vowed Amadeu before sending a message to the fans: "It's really important for us to have the crowd on our side. We want to give something back to you. We want to give back the love that we received from you."
Whether Brazil rediscover jogo bonito (beautiful game), also known as the mesmerising Samba football, during their stay in Kochi or not remains to be seen. But for now, they have the whole city of Kochi in their thrall.
Today, when www.xtratime.in spoke to his father Arun Kumar Thatal on phone, he seemed trembling in excitement. He said, “Yes, we have heard the same from the media today. If it really happens, then no doubt it will be a proud moment for all of us. He needs to keep playing well.”
Komal’s childhood coach Suren Chettri too seemed excited when he told XtraTime, “It would be huge if it happens eventually. Komal is supremely talented and works really hard. The scouts have certainly seen something special and that is why they are monitoring him. We hope it happens.”
It is to see if Komal Thatal can become the next Park Ji Sung of Asian football or not.
I actually feel bad for a young talent , as his mind will get diverted . And once he will realise all this Rumors are actually nothing but hoax, then a sense of insecurity and humiliation may cause a performance issue afterwards.
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Niger, a poor country rich in football talent
The second poorest country in the world, politically unstable with widespread lawlessness. Reasons are plenty for a country like Niger to focus on much more important things than promoting sports. But the last two years have been remarkable for Niger in sports. First, it was Abdoul Razak Issoufou, who won a silver medal in Taekwondo at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. And now it's their U-17 football team, called Mena Junior, that is making the country proud. After knocking out defending U-17 World Cup champions Nigeria in the qualifying phase, Niger made their World Cup debut memorable by beating North Korea at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Saturday by a solitary goal.Life is tough in Niger. A country which has a poor ranking in the United Nations Human Index has only the Central African Republic behind them in human development list. An average person in this African country survives on less than a dollar a day. Political unrest has been a major hurdle in their development and slavery was declared illegal as recent as in 2004.
Despite the adversaries, the 'little heroes' from Niger is making their countrymen proud. The win against Korea will only add to the impetus of Niger's rise as a sporting power, feels their assistant coach Hamidou Harouna. "We are participating in the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time and we have started on a winning note. The team and the country are happy. The game was telecast live on TV and a lot of people watched it back there. This team is writing a new page in the history of Niger football. We will never forget this win," said Harouna after team's practice at Maharaja's College ground on Sunday.
Just after landing in India, Niger coach Ismalia Tiemoko had promised just one thing. "I can't guarantee that we'll go on and win the competition but I can guarantee that we'll make people talk about us, just like we did in Africa. Maybe we can't work miracles, but we can do our best."
The players seem intent on delivering coach's promise.
The win means a lot for Mena Junior. A decent show in the remaining games would open more doors for the young footballers in the country, feels Harouna. "Of course, this World Cup means a lot for the kids. Some of they may get a call from foreign clubs sooner or later. But at the moment, we don't want our youngsters to worry about such things. Right now, our focus is just on the tournament," he added.
After receiving many congratulatory messages from home after their win over North Korea, the African country is looking forward to their match against Spain on Tuesday. "Spain is a big team and everyone knows that. We are not worried about our opponents and we will try to play to our strength. We believe in ourselves and we know that if we win that game we will qualify for the next round," he said.
"Why was the Samba missing in the first 15 minutes?"
The question sounded almost accusatory. But it brought a smile to Brazil coach Carlos Amadeu's face.
"As you can imagine with youngsters playing in their first ever World Cup, we started nervously. But we got better," he told journalists at the post-match press conference after his side's narrow 2-1 win over Spain in their FIFA U-17 World Cup opener.
The journalist's poser was understandable.
There is a magic you associate with Brazilian football. You expect it each time the Brazilians take the field. You look for it even when they are training. You demand it each time the players touch the ball.
That magic didn't work as powerfully as you would expect against Spain, but the Brazilian team still held the 21,000-odd spectators at Kochi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium spellbound.
The supporters, many of them sporting Brazil's canary yellow jersey or wearing bandanas with 'BRAZIL' written on them, had been milling around outside the stadium since four hours before kick-off. As trumpets blared and fans chanted in Malayalam, a surreal carnival-like atmosphere reigned. No one was immune from the excitement, which has hung around in the air from quite some days now. The guards frisking you at Kochi's metro station want to know who Brazil are playing. The bellboys at hotels ask if they can get their hands on any tickets, which had become scarcer than love for Neymar in the city of Barcelona.
Once the match began, each attack from the Brazilians which went awry elicited a groan from the fans, some of whom had made four-hour journeys from places like Trivandrum to watch an U-17 team. There was some amount of table thumping and sighing in the press box too.
"The atmosphere was perfect. We could feel the energy of the crowd supporting us," Brazil's goal-scorer Lincoln said after the match.
Since the Brazilians landed here a week ago, it has been evident that they have captured the imagination of the city. Brazil-mania has gripped Kochi. It was writ large in the Vinicius jerseys fans sported during the match. It manifested itself when thousands of fan turned up to watch Brazil's first training session in Kochi. It's not an exaggeration to say that there were more fans at the training venue in Kochi to watch the team train than there were watching them beat New Zealand in a training match at the Mumbai Football Arena last month.
"We're feeling like we're at home here. We felt really welcome here in India, especially in Kochi. We could feel the crowd shouting for us ever since we walked on to the pitch to start our warm-up (against Spain).
"Whenever I came here for technical visits after the World Cup draw, I could see this synergy with Brazil from the fans of Kerala. I also realised this coincidence of the local team Kerala Blasters also playing in yellow jerseys," Amadeu said.
Brazil have been made to feel like the home team at Kochi. And as with every home team, there are huge expectations from this Brazil team.
"If you compare our game against Spain to the South American competition, you will see that we didn't start the tournament there too at our best. We know that today we didn't play our best football, but as in the South American championship, we're going to get better as the competition progresses. We're going to raise our level," vowed Amadeu before sending a message to the fans: "It's really important for us to have the crowd on our side. We want to give something back to you. We want to give back the love that we received from you."
Whether Brazil rediscover jogo bonito (beautiful game), also known as the mesmerising Samba football, during their stay in Kochi or not remains to be seen. But for now, they have the whole city of Kochi in their thrall.
http://xtratime.in/fifa-u17-world-cup-what-did-komal-thatals-parents-and-coach-say-about-his-possible-move-to-manchester-united/
Today, when www.xtratime.in spoke to his father Arun Kumar Thatal on phone, he seemed trembling in excitement. He said, “Yes, we have heard the same from the media today. If it really happens, then no doubt it will be a proud moment for all of us. He needs to keep playing well.”
Komal’s childhood coach Suren Chettri too seemed excited when he told XtraTime, “It would be huge if it happens eventually. Komal is supremely talented and works really hard. The scouts have certainly seen something special and that is why they are monitoring him. We hope it happens.”
It is to see if Komal Thatal can become the next Park Ji Sung of Asian football or not.
