AnOctoberEnglishThriller England beating Spain at Salt Lake Stadium would want to do what Brazil did in 2003
Call it a coincidence or a matter of luck by chance, the British who started building their empire in India from Kolkata are now inching towards scripting history in the iconic Salt Lake stadium. The England U-17 football team are on the cusp of creating history in the city. The stadium has been decked up with colourful rangolis and other football related decorations.
Led by centre-back Joel Latibeaudiere with Coach Steve Cooper, England will take on Spain in the final in the City of Joy.
England would want to draw first blood in the game given the fact that they were beaten in a tie breaker at the U-17 Euros earlier in the year.
While the team is confident of checking all the right boxes, they are aware that there international track record has been shaky.
The likes of Phil Foden, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs White and Rhian Brewster have been playing an attractive brand of football.
England have scored 18 goals in the tournament, scoring three in each game.
“The team has performed really well up to now and even though we did not expect to win all the games the way we did, the boys have earned the right to be in this place on this day,” said a very proud Steve Cooper to the media.
The team while entering the stadium will walk past a picture of English captain Bobby Moore who led his men to the country’s first ever World Cup win at the Wembley in 1966.
The clash at Salt Lake Stadium is for the record a first ever all- European summit clash of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Both England and Spain will be looking at a maiden title in front of the full-capacity 66,000-odd crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Experts say the game could be a cracker of an experience where a goal feast between the top guns is much likely.
While England have scored 18 goals so far, Spain have 15 to their credit.
While for England this is a first final, Spain have featured as losing finalists on three earlier occasions in 1991, 2003 and 2007.
The last encounter the two sides had earlier this year was in the European U-17 Championship match in Croatia in May.
A win for England will herald an unprecedented year as their Under-20 team had won the World Cup in Korea earlier this year while their Under-19 side were the European champions.
The event has been a record breaking one with total number of spectators from the 50 matches so far being 1,224,027 which is a mere 6949 less than the earlier record attendance of 1,230,976 in the first edition of the tournament in China in 1985.
This tournament is set to become the most attended of any FIFA U-17 or U-20 tournament.
Spain passed the ball 3,520 times in their six matches while England managed to do it 3,017 times. On an average, Spain had 62.1 per cent of ball possession, which is slightly better than that of England’s 58.5.
England would like to do what Brazil did in 2003 by winning both U-17 and U-20 World Cups in one calendar year.
The English reportedly have been sharpening their skills as a team eversince the National Football Centre was founded at St. George’s Park in 2014. The team has been working doubly hard under the banner of England DNA.
When you enter the Salt Lake Stadium through the main gate, a huge statue with two legs, a couple of footballs and a globe placed on the hips is the overwhelming sight. This was imagined by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee herself.
Meanwhile all roads leading to the stadium are spruced up with colourful alpona.
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