England are my favourite to win the U-17 World Cup final, says Sunil Chhetri

Sunil Chhetri has picked England as his favourite team to prevail in Saturday’s first-ever all-European final. (Source: File)

Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri has come forth to reveal his choice in Saturday’s first-ever all-European final in the U17 World Cup at Kolkata. “England is my favourite to win the U-17 World Cup final as they have been on a great run of form”, Sunil Chhetri said in a chat with the indianexpress.com. After scoring as many as 15 goals in the tournament, topping their group in the league stage and beating Brazil (3-1) in the semi-finals, the Young Lions will definitely be the ones to watch out. Chhetri also expressed happiness over the way India hosted the tournament but did go on to say that the entire process should be taken as a lesson from which a lot needs to be learnt and worked upon.

“The hosting of the World Cup was a lesson of sorts from where notes must be made and more importantly, worked upon. There are bound to be glitches but the key is to learn from them. I’m sure we have the ability to host a big tournament in the future. I was at the Salt Lake a while ago and it’s fantastic to see the transformation it has undergone. It definitely has drawn attention from all quarters. The buzz has been evident, the media has been putting the tournament out there and the Indian audience has responded fairly well.”, the 32-year-old said.

“The World Cup, until this point, has gone off very smoothly and that is something to be proud about. But like I said, it’s important that we build on things from here.”, he added.

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With FIFA deeming India’s hosting of the U17 World Cup as a success and India subsequently launching a bid for the U20 edition in 2019, the mood in the country is anything but upbeat. Chhetri too believes that there is no reason as to why India cannot successfully host another FIFA World Cup. “Every bid we make is going to be ambitious but if things are done correctly, top to down, I don’t see why we shouldn’t be confident of pulling it off.”

Meanwhile, the Indian U-17 side earned plaudits for their performances. Not surprisingly, Chhetri also lauded the Indian boys for their passionate performances but refrained from singling out any one particular player for special praise. “It’s still very early days for this Indian Under-17 side. What was most encouraging was the heart that these boys showed while taking the pitch. I’m not going to single out any particular player because I still feel they all have a lot more to do. The plaudits will come. But now is when they have to put their heads down and work harder than ever.”, he concluded.