Luis Norton de Matos appointed India U-17 head coach
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) appointed Portugal’s Luis Norton de Matos as the head coach of the India U-17 team for the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.
Published : Mar 01, 2017 16:00 IST
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) appointed Portugal’s Luis Norton de Matos as the head coach of the India U-17 team for the forthcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be held at home.
Matos met the AIFF Advisory Committee including representatives from Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Wednesday. He met with Mr. Injeti Srinivas, the Director General of SAI on Monday evening, and met AIFF President Praful Patel in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The AIFF President Patel said: “It’s nice to have Mr. Matos on board. His experience of handling youth Teams will come in handy for the U-17 boys as we wish to leave no stone unturned to field a competitive team in the U-17 World Cup. I expect him to guide our boys to put up a strong performance in the World Cup.”
The 63-year old coach “thanked” AIFF for making him a “part of the project.”
“My role will be to orchestrate everything wherein the players will be playing their part,” he told the AIFF Committee. “I admire AIFF’s vision and the U-17 World Cup will act as a base for development of Football in India. The players need to believe in themselves to do something special for the Country,” he stated.
“I do have an Indian connection as my great grandfather was born in Goa,” he informed. “I will retain the positives of the last two years as we move forward,” he maintained.