FIFA U-17 World Cup: Colombia, New Zealand announce final squads
Colombia and New Zealand both announced their final squads for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Colombia announced their 21-man squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup scheduled to start from October 6.
According to the Colombian Football Federation, Coach Orlando Restrepo made some significant changes to his squad, which finished third in the South American championship. Kevin Moreno, Heyler Gomez and Juan David Martinez are some of the key absentees from the squad.
READ | FIFA U-17 World Cup: Colombia coach Orlando Restrepo confident of good show
Colombia are in group A with along with India, Ghana and the US. They will play their first game against Ghana on October 6 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and will be look to improve their highest finishing of third place in the U-17 World Cup which they achieved in Nigeria 2009.
Colombia U-17 squad:
Nicolás Gómez, Kevin Leonardo Mier, Daniel Melo, Andrés Felipe Balanta, Robert Andrés Mejía, Christian Andrade, Thomas Gutiérrez, Juan Sebastián Peñaloza, Gustavo Adolfo Carvajal, Luis Miguel López, Yair Meneses, Andrés Felipe Perea, Brayan Arley Gómez, Guillermo Tegue, Etilso Martínez, Fabián Steven Ángel, Déiber Caicedo, Deyman Andrés Cortés, Jaminton Campáz (Deportes Tolima), David Barrero, Juan David Vidal.
New Zealand Football also announced their 21-man squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup on Thursday.
“This group has done that and I have been impressed by the squad’s character both in our qualifiers and in our training camps as we build towards this tournament,” New Zealand U-17 coach Danny Hay who played 31 internationals for the nation was quoted as saying.
READ | FIFA U-17 World Cup: New Zealand target maiden knockout stage appearance
The FIFA World Cup squad selection was a two-year process for Hay and his assistant coaches Chris Zorocich and Jason Batty and they believe they have named a squad with plenty of character and quality.
New Zealand will open their tournament against Turkey on October 6 before they meet South American powerhouse Paraguay (both in Mumbai) and then complete Group B against African champions Mali (New Delhi) in the tournament, which will be contested from October 6 to 28 October in six venues across India.
New Zealand U-17 squad:
Jacob Clark, Zac Jones, Nicholas Milner, Liberato Cacace, Boyd Curry, Ben Deeley, Matthew Jones, Joshua Rogerson, Jordan Spain, Emlyn Wellsmore, Willem Ebbinge, Elijah Just, Oliver Duncan, Kieran Richards, Kingsley Sinclair, Oliver Whyte, Leon Van Den Hoven, Matthew Conroy, Charles Spragg, Matthew Palmer, Max Mata.