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The 2023 U-17 World Cup is a good opportunity for Spain to end their wait for a title. “La Rojita”‘s path to the knockout stage will not encounter any obstacles in Group B. Spain’s quality is higher than that of the other three competitors, Uzbekistan, Mali and Canada.

Spain have never been sheltered by the “Goddess of Fortune” in their 10th appearance at the U-17 World Cup. Ahead of the 2023 edition of the event, Spain’s participation numbers are only behind those of Brazil and Mexico, who have respectively participated in 17 and 11 editions of the world’s most junior FIFA tournament.

However, unlike Brazil and Mexico who won the championship trophy, Spain is the unluckiest team. They felt the predicate four times finalist that is, losing in the final in 1991, 2003, 2007 and 2017. Apart from the four editions which brought only silver medals, La Rojita’s record is that it has won two bronze medals .

Although they were disappointed at youth level, Fabregas and Silva made up for it by presenting Spain with the South African 2010 World Cup trophy.

Although they failed to become champions, the U-17 World Cup helped Spain form their golden generation team. It was created during the 2003 and 2007 editions. Cesc Fabregas and David Silva became the team’s moto during the 0-1 defeat against Brazil in Finland in 2003. Although they were disappointed at youth level , Fabregas and Silva caught up as they handed over the 2010 South Africa World Cup trophy to Spain.

Then, in 2007, David de Gea and Nacho took advantage of their failure in the 2007 U-17 World Cup final to improve at senior level. De Gea, for example, made history as the most successful Spanish goalkeeper in the Premier League and Manchester United. Next, Nacho already has five Champions League championship rings.

With Spain’s history of participation and quality, fellow Group B competitors Canada, Mali and Uzbekistan have standards they want to achieve at the 2023 U-17 World Cup. They are determined to resist in the duel against Spain.

Also read: Once again, Barcelona teenagers make history

Canada will be the first team to face Spain at the Manahan Stadium, Surakarta, Central Java, next Friday (11/10/2023). In order to compete with La Rojita, Canada conducted an intensive concentration in Brazil for a month.

They also completed their training before flying to Indonesia to face reigning U-17 World Cup champions Brazil. In two duels against Brazil, Canada lost 1-3 and 0-5.

Canada U-17 coach Andrew Olivieri said his team needs a match against Brazil to gauge its capabilities and understand its weaknesses before entering the 2023 U-17 World Cup. Brazil, Olivieri said, has helped his team grow.

“We are lucky that Brazil gave us the opportunity to train and play test matches. “We are trying to continue improving in order to achieve our goal of reaching the knockout stages of the U-17 World Cup for the first time,” Olivieri said. Canada Soccer.

Mali coach Soumaila Coulibaly also specially prepared his group, particularly mentally, to compete in the group stage. The experience of reaching the final during the 2015 edition is a benchmark that Mali wishes to reiterate. After around five months of preparation, Coulibaly is confident in his team’s ability to perform well and reach at least the round of 16.

Asia’s representative, Uzbekistan, wants to continue its good performance in Southeast Asia. They booked their ticket to the 2023 U-17 World Cup final with their victory over Asian giants Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals of the 2023 U-17 Asian Cup in Thailand in June last.

“We don’t just want to participate in the U-17 World Cup. “We want to make our country’s 35 million fans proud,” Uzbekistan Under-17 coach Jamoliddin Rakhmatullaey was quoted as saying by the AFC website.

It depends on La Masia

For Spain, the 2023 U-17 World Cup is a golden opportunity to develop a new generation of the best players of the future. Marc Guiu, for example, is the most precious jewel that Spain and Barcelona currently have.

The player trained at La Masia, Barça’s academy, should be able to end Spain’s wait for the presence of a sharp center forward after Alvaro Morata. At only 17 years old, Guiu proved his acumen by scoring the only goal in Barça’s victory against Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league on October 22.

It is also a “unique” product from La Masia. Until now, Barcelona’s academy is renowned for producing miniature attacking players aimed at the average European. Because they only have a height between 1.7 meters and 1.75 meters, including Lionel Messi and Bojan Krkic.

Guiu is 1.84 meters tall. He also occupies a pure position as a classic number nine player. Over the past 20 years, La Masia has never produced the best center forward who can be trusted to appear in Barca’s first team.

Besides Guiu, Barça, through La Masia, also sent seven other players to Indonesia 2023. It is the most dominant team among the 21 Spanish U-17 teams. Real Madrid provided four players and Valencia were represented by two players. Then seven other teams gave away a player.

Another Barca player considered to have a bright future is midfielder Pau Prim. He is said to have the ability to become a world-class defensive midfielder similar to Barca legend Sergio Busquets. Collection 10 stamp Spain U-17 showed Prim’s importance to La Rojita this year.

Barca coach Xavi Hernandez hopes that Barca players can make the best contribution to Spain in Indonesia 2023.

“Marc’s (Guiu) generation is different from my generation of players when they were teenagers. They have no fear. “They radiate a spark that always wants to prove their abilities when given the opportunity to play,” said Xavi, who participated in the 1997 U-17 World Cup in Egypt, as reported by newspaper. sport.

Group B is therefore entirely made up of Spain and three competitors who take advantage of the opportunity to create a surprise. (AFP)