The under-17 World Championship, which will be held in Qatar from November 3 to 27, starts today, and after a ten-year break, the Croatian under-17 national team is again at the world event.
Marijan Budimir’s team is placed in group C, together with Senegal, Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates. The first opponent of the young Fire team will be Senegal.
Before the start of the competition, the match was announced by coach Budimir and the captain of the national team Karlo Pajsar. Budimir expressed his satisfaction with the team’s preparations and readiness:
After four days in Osijek and five days in Qatar, the most beautiful is comingwhich are matches. We are still getting used to the heat, but also to the speed of the pitch and the speed of the balls. However, as it is with others, so it will be with us.
As for the first game and Senegal, they are very, very good like team, are one of the favorites of the whole tournament. They are motorically and individually good, for an African national team they are also very organized. However, we also have our trump cards, we are also quality and good, and if we repeat the games from the preparatory tournaments, it will be good. The most important thing is for the players to be concentrated and focused on performance and to enjoy the game and this kind of global competition.
He added that there is an excellent atmosphere in the team and that everyone is looking forward to the start of the championship.
I’m sure we all are proud to represent Croatiaboth us as a staff and them as players, that they will give 100 percent of their abilities. How far that will take us, we’ll see. In terms of health, everyone is fine and everything is fine. They are impatient and excited, we can’t wait for the game. I say, we have three games, the first one is the hardest and we go one game at a timeadded Budimir.
Captain Karlo Pajsarstopper of Italian Parma, shared his optimism and faith in the team:
We came to Qatar five days ago, and yesterday and today we thoroughly analyzed Senegal. We prepared well, we had five good training sessions. Maybe Senegal is a bit of a favorite in that game because of the previous World Cups, but I think that if we are at 100 percent and if we are real, it will be all good.
The atmosphere is good, it is important that no one is injuredthat is the most important thing and of course we will do our best. If we have to, we will die for each other.
It’s quite hot here, but as it is with us, so it is with them. If someone can’t make it, others from the bench come in, because everyone is ready, which is the most important thing. The conditions are superb, maybe we in Croatia are not used to artificial pitches, but we got used to it these five days.
The Croatian U-17 national team is ready to open its fourth World Cup and once again proudly represent Croatian football on the big world stage.
The match against Senegal is scheduled for Monday, November 3 at 14:00 CET, HNS announced.
(www.jabuka.tv)
