Youth football harder to judge, says Niger U-17 World Cup team coach

Debutant Under-17 FIFA World Cup team Niger coach Soumaila Tiemogo on Tuesday said youth football becomes harder to judge due to the unexposed skills of the young talents.

"Unlike senior level, when you know who the star players are, it's harder to judge in youth football, If you asked Niger to knock out Ghana or Gabon at senior level, you'd doubt they could do it. But that's just what we did at junior level. There's a lot of talent in Niger," Tiemogo was quoted as saying by FIFA.

Niger, who will face three formidable opponents in North Korea, Brazil and Spain in the group stages of the tournament are capable of making people talk about them, believes the coach.

"I can't guarantee that we'll go on and win the competition but I can guarantee that we'll make people talk about us, just like we did in Africa. Maybe we can't work miracles, but we can do our best," the coach said.

Coach Soumaila Tiemogo was known as "The Emperor" in his playing days as a defender who captained his country. He was also a former sports teacher.

Niger will play their first group stage match in the FIFA U-17 World Cup against South Korea on October 8 at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi.

--IANS

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