FIFA U-17 World Cup: A close look at Indian Attack

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New Delhi, Oct 7: More than 50,000 people were present at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on the opening day of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup on Friday, when hosts India made their world cup debut across all age groups, male or female.

It was indeed, the most iconic day in the history of Indian football. The excitement touched a higher level once the referee kicked-off the second game of the day.

The Blues, now managed by the Portuguese Luis Norton de Matos, have travelled extensively over the last two years playing a variety of opponents in the process, and one of the teams they faced was USA, who beat them 4-0 in Goa just over a year ago.

However, the Indian side still looked inexperienced in terms of international games and playing in front of a jam-packed arena would have been a new experience. The Indian attack looked good but clearly, the lack of confidence and pressure of a big game affected their game.

The Indian forwards gave US defenders a run for their money as they created quite a few chances of scoring but lost the ball in the final stages. The ball even hit the crossbar as the luck didn't seem to be in favour of the Indian lads. But they have shown promising signs in their first FIFA game.

Let us take a look at two strikers of India.

Rahim Ali

The Indian coaching team jokingly call Ali a politician because he is an opportunist which is the biggest trait of a successful forward. The Bengal striker is always at the right place at the right time.

Hailing from Barrackpore in West Bengal and a product of the Mohun Bagan youth team, which he joined in 2013, Rahim was demoted to the reserves but soon fought his way to the top. He was once demoted to the reserve side but worked his way back to the first-team and is now the first-choice of India up front.

Aniket Jadhav

Aniket Jadhav from Maharashtra, was among the 10 players handpicked by former Germany great Paul Breitner to represent India at the FC Bayern Munich Youth Cup in 2014. Since then, he has only become better and better.

Blessed with a dominating physique and blistering pace, Aniket has an astonishing scoring record at youth level. He is most effective in the latter stages of the game when the opposition is tired as he can outmuscle most defenders of his age.