Kanu, Cambiasso to attend draw for FIFA U-17 World Cup

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World football's governing body FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) on Wednesday announced the participation of former Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso and Nigerian forward Nwankwo Kanu along with Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri and country's top-ranked badminton player P.V. Sindhu at the official draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

While Kanu won the 1993 edition of the U-17 World Cup, midfielder Cambiasso participated in the 1995 edition.

Kanu won Olympic gold in 1996, was twice chosen as African Player of the Year, and played for Nigeria at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions of the World Cup.

Cambiasso, meanwhile, won the FIFA U-20 World Cup 1997 and was part of Argentina's team at the 2010 World Cup.

"The FIFA U-17 World Cup 1993 really spurred my career - within years of winning the title, I won the Olympic gold and from there as I would like to believe, there wasn't any looking back. This tournament provides youngsters the necessary stage for development and I believe this year's edition will provide us all with exceptional talent -- much like the previous tournaments," Kanu said.

The draw is on Friday while the World Cup, taking place in India for the first time, will be held from October 6-28.

--IANS

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