Will fight until the last breath, says midfielder Komal Thatal

Fleet-footed midfielder Komal Thatal is looking to emulate his wonder goal against Brazil in the BRICS Championship last year in the FIFA U-17 World Cup when India take on US in the opening game and said that the team will fight until its last breath.

Thatal believes it will be a historic moment for Indian football when the Indian U-17s step on to the pitch on Friday against US.

"It will be a big and historic moment for not only Indian Football, but for each and every Indian. This will be India's first ever participation in a FIFA World Cup and we expect the nation to get behind us and cheer for us," said Thatal.

When asked about preparation of the team for the prestigious tournament, he said, "We are prepared, mentally and physically. We are raring to go and at the moment there is a lot of excitement in the camp."

"We respect every team in our group, but we are ready to face them and give them a hard fight. We will give it our best on the pitch and will fight until the last breath," he insisted.

India, who are hosting FIFA World Cup U-17 for the first time, is in Group A with USA, Colombia and Ghana.

The Indian Colts will face USA on October 6, before locking horns with Colombia and Ghana on October 9 and October 12 respectively at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

India squad:

Goalkeepers: Dheeraj Singh, Prabhsukhan Gill, Sunny Dhaliwal

Defenders: Boris Singh, Jitendra Singh, Anwar Ali, Sanjeev Stalin, Hendry Antonay, Namit Deshpande

Midfielders: Suresh Singh, Ninthoinganba Meetei, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, Abhijit Sarkar, Komal Thatal, Lalengmawia, Jeakson Singh, Nongdamba Naorem, Rahul Kannoly Praveen, Md. Shahjahan

.