FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP: WE’LL PLAY EAGLETS WITH ENERGY, USA COACH TALKS TOUGH

The Golden Eaglets battle USA tonight in their opening Group A match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. In this interview with USA Soccer, American coach, Richie Williams says it won’t be a stroll in the park for the four-time World Cup winners from west Africa, who he warns to expect an energetic play from the Yankees.

The team will play in the opening game of the tournament against Nigeria. Is it a challenge playing in the first game?
I think it’s a great challenge and I think the guys will be excited. It’s a great opportunity to compete against the champions of the last World Cup and I think our guys are going to have a lot of energy, they’re going to be excited and they’re going to be ready to play, so we’re looking forward to it. I think every World Cup game is important. You can’t say one is any more important than the other. You can’t overlook any team. It’s a World Cup game and everybody’s got to be ready to go. Whether you think they’re the strongest opponent or the weakest opponent, it’s the World Cup and all the games are very important and very competitive and anything could happen, especially if you’re not ready to play. Having a clear four days to train before our game against Nigeria will help us a lot.

Was it helpful to have played against Chile in Chile a year ago?
I believe so. We’re familiar with the country, even though we’ll be in different cities. We’ve taken the flight from Miami and we have the same travel plan. Just being there the year before, I think it helps and definitely benefits us.

Have the last two years prepared the group for the challenge ahead?
I believe so. I think we have an experienced team and I think we have enough games. We’ve traveled to different parts of the world and we’ve had games here in the United States and we’ve been able to play different teams from different parts of the world. Again, for me, that Chile game that we were able to play was important. We were able to play Turkey in Turkey, France in France, the list goes on. I think we’ve given our guys a ton of experiences through International matches and again in our training here in Residency over the last two years we’ve been able to look at players. We’ve had some that were right with us in the beginning. We’ve had some that have been added over time, because we know over time with development, things change and guys are going to step up and do a little bit better and some guys might fall off, but I think the process has given them a huge opportunity. It’s really going to benefit them. I think U.S. Soccer has done a really good job of being able to give them these opportunities to play domestic and international games to get them ready for the World Cup.

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