Kolkata Oct 18 (IANS) Germany s U-17 coach Christian Wueck on Wednesday brushed aside talk of the youth team not winning any World Cup compared to the senior side s four trophies will play on the minds of his colts stating the idea is to develop players for the "A-team".
"No. In no case " Wueck replied to a question on whether his charges are rattled by the thought of Germany senior team bagging four World Cups including the last one in 2014.
"I think it s very important for us to play in Germany that we have to show good development to prepare us to play for the A-team. It s important for each player to have this tournament and have European championships to develop " the coach said.
Germany will play their quarter-final tie here on October 22 against either Brazil or Honduras.
Germany s best finish at a U-17 World Cup has been fourth place in 1985. They have participated in the tournament only four times (1985 1989 1995 2015).
The Germans finished second in Group C behind Iran who surprisingly thrashed them 0-4 in the tournament s biggest upset so far. Germany started their campaign by beating Costa Rica 2-1 and getting past Guinea 3-1 in their final game.
In the round of 16 clash they thrashed Colombia 4-0 to enter the quarters. Asked if playing the pre-quarters in New Delhi where at this time of the year the weather was different to Kolkata posed a problem the coach said: "No it s not important where we play. I think it s very important for us that we have a good pitch."
"So I think the pitch in Delhi is very good the pitch here is also ok. So it will be a very good game not important if it s against Brazil and Honduras " he added.
The Germans landed in the city on Tuesday evening and toiled hard at the Salt Lake Stadium training site 1 on Wednesday morning.
--IANS
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