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England will take inspiration from U-20 World Cup win: Cooper

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Press Trust of India Kolkata
Eyeing a maiden title win at the upcoming U-17 Football World Cup, England will be drawing inspiration from last month's U-20 triumph, head coach Steve Cooper said today.

"It's a motivation and inspiration for us to do well here. We are so happy with U-20, they have done such a job. It creates a good reputation for the England players who are coming through," Cooper said.

"World Cup brings pressure in its own right as we are expected to do well," he added.

England qualified for the U-17 World Cup, scheduled to be held from October 6-28 here in India, after finishing runners-up to Spain in a penalty shootout of the European Championship.
 

Quarterfinalists in 2007 and 2011, England will be making their fourth U-17 World Cup appearance.

"We really believe in our players in England. We work really hard to offer the best development programmes. When you come here it's about controlling in each day. We are thinking about the first game and then we will take step by step."

England will have to brace for humid conditions and Cooper said they were planning to arrive here ahead of the FIFA schedule in the first week of October.

"Climate is no surprise here. Every other team will have to deal with it as well. Everybody knows it's different from Europe," Cooper said.

"Who knows the future World Cups at senior level will be in similar climates or maybe in India. We don't see it as a challenge but as positive and learning experience."

Clubbed with two-time champions Mexico, runners-up of South American U-17 Championships Chile and AFC U-16 winners Iraq, England have a tough task at hand.

"From A to F, all teams are good there's no easy game. The groups are pretty even. We hope to get good crowd support here," Cooper said.

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First Published: Jul 09 2017 | 6:13 PM IST

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