Pre- tournament favourite Germany will battle it out against pumped up Colombia for a place in the quarterfinal in the FIFA U-17 World Cup at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Monday.Later in the second pre quarterfinal to be played at the same pitch , group B topper and favourite Paraguay will face the USA,. in an all Americas fixture
Colombia who finished second in group A, was the first team to arrive in Delhi on 20th September to acclimatise themselves for this mega event. They have an advantage of having played two tough matches at the same venue where they will face the European contender.
The South Americans lost to Ghana 0-1 in their opener and then survived a scare before overpowering India 2-1 but then they made amends as they handed a 3-1 thrashing to the USA in Navi Mumbai to finish with six points ahead of the USA and behind Ghana. All three teams finished with six points and the goal differences decided their ranking in the pool.
The much talked Germany struggled to beat Costa Rica 2-1 and suffered a humiliating 0-4 drubbing at the hands of Iran in Goa.. They managed to resurrect their campaign with a 3-1 win over Guinea in Kochi to be second in group C
The knock out round is going to be a different ball game and the teams know that there is second chance. to stay put in the competition. Their journey till this stage of the tournament looks identical that despite coming with a formidable reputation they had to fight out every inch for their survival so far.
Both the teams having recorded two wins, one defeat and scored five times in the first round, clearly shows how little there is between the sides. Their only other encounter at this level, at the 2007 edition in Korea Republic, was equally tight, ending in a 3-3 draw. But on Monday there will to be a winner, and a loser will head for home.
Colombia seems to be heavy dependent on their promising star Juan Penaloza, who so far has played very crucial role in his side’s progress with both goals in their victory over India, as well as a crucial goal and assist in their must-win showdown with USA.
The youngster realizes that team has huge expectations from him . He is candid enough to admit that the main inspiration to keep working hard is his deceased brother, to whom he dedicates every goal he scores.
Colombia coach Orlando Restrepo who before the start of the league had declared the USA as the strongest in the pool , looked confident after his team’s overwhelming win over them .
“We have to play our own game, We should not waste chances as we did it here last week against Ghana and India” he said.
Of the four sides set to play on Monday, Germany had the most shots in the group phase with 61, 21 of which were on target, 25 off target and 15 blocked. With no margin for error in the knockout phase, Die Mannschaft will be hoping to make every opportunity count from here on in.
Jann- Fiete Arp is the player Germany seems to be depending upon.The in form captain was instrumental in his team’s win over Guinea that helped them to make it to the pre-quarterfinals .
Arp, earmarked as the future of German national team after his seven goals, including two hat-tricks in the European U-17 Championships.
He along with Dennis Jastrzembski and Nicolas Kuhn, form a dangerous trio as they interchange positions and drop deep when needed.
The defeat against Iran still rankles “Sometimes there are days when nothing goes the way you plan it. So this time we need to do few things differently. We will have to play with a better mindset,”
Arp, who made his debut for Hamburg’s senior side in a derby against Werder Bremen a few weeks ago and thus became the first Bundesliga player to be born in the millennium, opined “Now we are going into the playoffs, it doesn’t matter who we face. It’s the playoffs, so we are taking it match by match,”
Paraguay and USA made it to the knock rounds in a contrasting style. Both were among the first teams to secure Round of 16 berths after winning their opening two games.
Their fortunes then took different turn as Paraguay made it three wins from three, while the Stars and Stripes lost to Colombia and slipped to third place in group A
Paraguay boast a formidable strike force, who along with Iran, finished the group phase with 10 goals (3.33 per game).
Giovanni Bogado, Fernando Cardozo and Antonio Galeano are the players to be watched .They are responsible for Paraguay’s smooth journey to knock out round.
Americans started promisingly outclassing India 3—0 and then piped fiery Ghana 1-0 before they met their match in Colombia.
However American coach John Hackworth put behind the debacle against Colombia saying his boys will put up better show when it matters most “This team is capable of producing a strong performance and bouncing back. The players are in good shape and ready, but we need to be at our best on the pitch.”