Title not ultimate aim: Germany coach

PANAJI
Warped under tight security cover of the local police and CISF personnel, the FIFA U-17 World Cup German side wound its way up a narrow lane in a team bus to have their first training session at the Nagoa Village Panchayat ground in South Goa
on Monday.
Taking to the field shortly after, the German colts after a bit of a warm-up took to a rather long session of playing man in the middle, rather three men in the middle in their case. A skill-based game whereby the outer circle players pass the ball from one to another and the three men inside try to intercept the ball.
As news spread of a football powerhouse in their proximity at training ahead of the big ticket event, football fans and curious onlookers began to fill up the stands and the vicinity. The players were found taking water breaks every 15-20 minutes as it was clearly noticeable they were trying to acclimatise to the Indian weather. The session later progressed to an intensively played match simulation situations which served spectators a taste to come when competition proper begins. Germany will begin their quest for their elusive FIFA World Cup title at the U-17 level on October 7 when they take on formidable Costa Rica in a Group C clash at 5 pm at Fatorda. On October 10, they will take on Asian giants Iran at 8 pm at the same venue before moving to Kochi to take on Guinea in their last Group encounter on October 13.
Speaking to the media after their first ground training session, Germany U-17 manager Christian Wück ascertained that to start with it was important for their side to know how the Indian weather is and to adjust to same along with the surface which is lot different from the German grass.
"We know after looking at our group, and seeing the many sequences from each team we think that each team is very tough. To get through from the Group stage to the highest level will not be easy. But our aim is to top the Group," the experienced junior level coach stated.
On preparations, the former Bundesliga player with over 100 appearances, revealed there have been none as such. "We have come directly from playing the U-17, U-19 Bundesliga competitions back home," the
coach admitted.
Germany had tasted their greatest FIFA U-17 World Cup success at the inaugural tournament in China PR in 1985, whereby they finished as runners-up. Two years ago, in the Chile edition they were knocked out in by Croatia in the round of 16 with Wück very much at the helm. Why cannot Germany replicate similar kind of success at the age-group level as their senior counterparts is a conundrum?
While not giving a clear answer, Wück who has been part of the junior football set-up in Germany for the last five years believes that their first aim is develop their young players talent. "It is not important for us to get the title at the U-17, U-18 or U-19 level, but for us it is important to get the players to progress to the national team," the German gaffer stressed. He further added that unlike the African teams' whose players are physically very strong at this level, European players are not as much.