Even as the Indian juniors continue to impress with their spirit and improvement in game, the serious contenders for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup are inching closer to the business end of the competition.
On Thursday, African champion Mali would take on New Zealand for the second automatic qualifying spot from Group B at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium here after travelling from Mumbai with mixed results in its two games so far. Finalist in the 2015 edition, a comprehensive 3-0 win against Turkey has put Mali in a comfortable position and even a draw would be good enough for the African powerhouses.
With Paraguay already qualified for the Round of 16 with two wins, Mali would be favourite against Danny Hay’s side whose best performance in its seven appearances remains reaching the pre-quarterfinals thrice. In the ongoing tournament, New Zealand has had just one draw, courtesy captain Max Mata’s strike against Turkey, but lost him for the next game with a double yellow. Mata would be back on Thursday.
The aims for both teams are contrasting. Mali is looking repeat its feat from two years ago and perhaps even go a step better. “We want to honour Mali and all of Africa during the U-17 World Cup. But it’s a completely different level,” coach Jonas Komla has said adding that he hoped to emulate his predecessor by reaching the final.
New Zealand, however, is looking to simply progress from the group stage for now. That would be a tough task against a physically and tactically superior Mali that was only thwarted by the Turkish goalkeeper in its first game.
Forwards Lassana N’Diaye and Hadji Drame have been relentless in the attack. A hard-pressing game has seen the Malians keep up the pressure at all times with even the defenders playing high up in the opposition half. The New Zealand defence would be seriously tested. It was rolled over by Paraguay and the 4-2 loss could well have been 4-0 or even more except for two own goals by Paraguayan captain Alexis Duarte. Similar gifts would not be available from Mali.
