A title in its maiden FIFA Under-17 World Cup appearance has left England coach Steve Cooper philosophical. “I am speechless. The feeling is little bit surreal. The players were fantastic all throughout the tournament,” said Cooper.
“In my opinion, we are worthy winners of the tournament considering the goals we scored and the football that we played,” he added after seeing England finish the tournament unbeaten (it won its pre-quarterfinal against Japan on penalties).
England scored five after conceding two initially making the seven-goal feast the best contested final in the history of the 32-year-old tournament.
“To be 2-0 down in a World Cup final and to come back and win 5-2 tells you everything about the character of English players,” said Cooper.
Two of the top individual awards were cornered by its players. Rhian Brewester took home the ‘golden boot’ as the top scorer (eight goals) while versatile midfielder Philip Foden earned the ‘golden ball’ as the best player of the tournament.
When asked about whom he would dedicate the trophy to, Cooper turned to the five-year-old elite development programme happening in the National Football Centre in St George’s Park, Staffordshire. “This trophy is dedicated to the good work that is being done in England, the academies and the young players being trained there,” he said. “So for me it is the recognition of where English football wants to go. To think we are the holders of the U-17 and U-20 World Cups is pretty special,” said Copper.
He also congratulated India and Kolkata for playing the perfect host. India, as a first-time host of the World Cup, surpassed China, the host of the inaugural edition in 1985, to record an attendance of approximately 12,90,000 (12,30,976 in China). Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium logged the highest total among the six venues with over 5,50,000 spectators and an average attendance of over 54,000 per match.
“I have to say thank you to India. Kolkata deserves special mention. The six out of seven games we have played out here have been an amazing experience,” Cooper said.
The tournament set a new record in the number of goals scored with 183, 11 more than the previous record of 172 achieved in UAE, 2013.
Santiago Denia, Spain’s coach, could not help but congratulate for the way England made the transition at the right time. “We played well the first 40 minutes but England proved very good at transition as we started playing the possession-game. We left open spaces at the back which they exploited,” Denia said as his team failed to lift the cup after reaching its fourth final.
