Navi Mumbai: African champions and last edition’s runners-up, Mali would look to start their FIFA U-17 World Cup campaign on a winning note when they take on Paraguay in a Group B match here Friday. In the 2015 final in Chile, they had lost 0-2 to Nigeria.
Mali have a strong squad, with good combination of attacking and defensive players, and they are one of the dark horses who could go all the distance in the U-17 showpiece event.
For Paraguay, this will be their fourth appearance in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Their best result till date have been a fifth-place finish in the 1999 edition of the tournament. They would certainly aim to do well here.
Paraguay secured their World Cup berth thanks to their third-place finish at this year’s South American U-17 Championships.
Both the teams did not have any practice games here and will hit the ground directly under the floodlights at the DY Patil stadium here. However, the heat and humidity here can be a problem for both the sides.
Paraguay, however, have a slight advantage as they arrived in the city a bit early while Mali came just four days back. The South American side have also practiced under lights here at night while the Africans have not done so. This may prove to be the latter’s undoing.
Press Trust of India
