Kolkata: England Under-17 World Cup team head coach Steve Cooper on Sunday brushed aside the challenge of facing humid weather conditions in India.
“Climate is no surprise to us. Every other team will have to deal with that. Everybody knows it’s different from Europe,” Cooper told reporters on the sidelines of an inspection visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
England are in Group F along with Chile, Mexico and Iraq for the October tournament. Their matches will be played at the colossal stadium, which in the past has hosted Lionel Messi’s Argentina in a Fifa friendly against Venezuela.
“Who knows the future World Cups at senior level will be in similar climates or maybe in India. We don’t see it as a challenge but as positive and learning experience,” Cooper, who obtained a professional coaching licence when he was 26, said.
England qualified for the U-17 World Cup after finishing runners-up to Spain in the European Championships this year. They won the U-20 World Cup last month with a 1-0 victory over Venezuela.
“It’s a motivation and inspiration for us to do well here. We are so happy with U-20, they have done such a job. It creates a good reputation for the England players who are coming through,” Cooper said.
“World Cup brings pressure in its own right as we are expected to do well,” he added.
This will be England’s fourth U-17 World Cup appearance.
“We really believe in our players in England. We work really hard to offer the best development programmes. When you come here it’s about controlling in each day. We are thinking about the first game and then we will take it step by step,” Cooper, who briefly played for Wrexham, said.
“From A to F, all teams are good — there’s no easy game. The groups are pretty even. We hope to get good crowd support here,” Cooper said.
