FIFA president Gianni Infantino complimented India for successfully hosting the U17 Women’s World Cup that concluded on Sunday.
AIFF’s new office bearers felicitated Infantino in Navi Mumbai ahead of the U-17 Women’s World Cup final.
Infantino said that India had been a wonderful host. He believed that India could do more in other competitions as well. He also said that not all 211 countries are world champions, not just one. In the World, only one team is the winner but football brought smiles and joy to many girls and boys all over the country.
Infantino told the people that he is going to be back in India early next year.
Infantino also said that he discussed with AIFF chief Kalyan Chaubey how to improve football in the country from the grassroots level. “There are also things like how we can professionalise women’s competitions, and we have to strengthen the leagues to promote Indian football,” Infantino stated further.
He also spoke about “beefing” up FIFA’s office in India. “India is a big country, a great country. There’s a lot to offer for both Indians in India and worldwide. I believe in the potential India has.” said Infantino.
The FIFA President called India as “sleeping giant” of the world and it was now time for India to wake up. He also said that it was important to popularise football in India, China and USA in order to globalize the sport.
‘Big role in Asian football’
AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said that FIFA and AFC are satisfied with India’s performance in hosting multilateral football tournaments, and they want them to host more.
He further said that India has played a big role in Asian football since he joined as the chairman of AFC.
Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa felt India had a greater chance for success in the future.
“India has taken great strides in recent times, but the pace could be even faster. Of course, the COVID pandemic has not helped in the last two years, and that was not just in India. There will always be challenges, be it COVID or other things, but I think the determination is there from all stakeholders to progress.”
He said that India is a country of more than 1.3 billion so there must be enough potential but the talent needs support from the stakeholders such as the AIFF, the government, the private sector, and the rest other parties as well. Only then they’ll succeed.
Spain wins FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup
Reigning champions Spain once again conquered the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup with a victory of 1-0 over Colombia, who were in the finals for the first time. Their campaign, unfortunately, ended in heartbreak after their own goal in the final.
Spain emerged as the Champions after Colombian defender Ana María Guzmán Zapata did an own goal in the 82nd minute of the match.
The final took place at the D Y Patil Sports Stadium. This was for the first time that India was hosting an U17 Women’s World cup.
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FIFA president Gianni Infantino was also present at the finals alongside various officials of the Asian Football Federation (AFC) and newly elected staff of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Spain also won the trophy in 2018 and this was their consecutive feat.
The match was goalless almost till the end of the match until Spain took the lead when Cristina’s scored off the rebound after the Colombian goalkeeper stopped the ball for the first time. However, VAR disallowed the goal stating that Cristina had touched the ball with her hands.
Earlier in the tournament, the two teams also met in the group phase, where Spain won with a 1-0 scoreline.
For the third position, Nigeria defeated Germany 3-2 on penalties. Germany’s Paulina Platner and Loreen Bender missed their penalties and a great save by Nigerian goalkeeper Omilana Faith resulted in Nigeria’s first-ever medal in this tournament.
Hosts India failed to do anything noteworthy as they had lost all three matches in the group stage.
