U-17 World Cup: English coach dials cricket counterpart for India inputs

Kolkata, Oct 7 (IANS)  The England football team, here to take part in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, has taken help from their cricket team as well, who toured India recently, to gauge the conditions in this part of the world, their coach Steve Cooper said on the eve of their first Group F tie against Chile.

"There have been some other guys as well. The fitness coaches... an also other sports...cricket is big out here the English cricket team has played here.

"We have really done our due diligence. We have taken everything on board and we would like to think that has helped in our plans for Kolkata and India," Cooper told reporters when asked about them consulting India senior team coach Stephen Constantine, Indian Super League (ISL) team Jamshedpur FC coach Steve Coppeell and ATK technical director Ashley Westwood before their India sojourn.

"We are very much working at St.George's Park where the team is based. There has been some natural connections with cricket and hockey. It's been very informal, just picking up the phone and asking what's this and what's that. It's not just the coaches but the physios as well. We have done a lot of travel, conditioning with the players as well," Cooper added.

The England cricket team toured India at the end of last year from November 9 till February 1 playing five Tests, three One Day Internationals (ODI) and three T20 internationals.

Asked about Borussia Dortmund's star striker Jadon Sancho, who is likely to leave for Germany after the group stages due to club commitments, coach Cooper and skipper Marc Guehi said that it's all about the team and not any individual player.

"We are about the team and not about individuals. If we have to be successful at any level, you want players to make a difference but they can make a difference anywhere on the pitch," Cooper said.

Guehi echoed his coach: "Just like coach said, we are much about the team and we all want to do well here."

England, earlier this year, won the U-20 World Cup beating Venezuela 1-0 in the final. Cooper said they ar coming into the tournament on the back of a good summer where the U-17 boys also reached the final of the European U-17 Championships.

"The English are on the back of a successful summer. Probably the most successful that we've ever had in junior teams. We have the ambition in all the tournaments to be as successful as we can. To bring our identity into these tournaments we're playing in a way that we think will help us in the long term. Our main idea is to win the senior World Cup and we are working towards that.

"Of course we want to be successful in the next few weeks as well. The U-20s success gives you hope. It gives hope for development of what the academy is doing. In England we are producing good players," Cooper said.

Meanwhile, the Chile coach urged the people of Kolkata to come and support them, adding the senior team's recent good shows, winning two Copa Americas and finishing runners-up in the Confederations Cup, have heightened expectations from these boys.

"The players are focused more about dignifying the shirt and that will help them overcome the shortcomings.

"England is a great team but we as a team are focused and have an overview of all the sides.We will be focusing on teams and not the players.

"Chilean senior national team's performance is really inspiring. This has heightened the expectations from this team. The youngsters have a lot to learn from them," Caputto said.