After playing in hot and humid conditions in Kochi and Goa, Germany finished second in the group behind Iran and are pegged to face Colombia in a mouthwatering clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Monday. The German coach Christian Wueck is glad to play a match in much-drier conditions of the capital city.
"We are looking very positively at the match, we are very happy to be in Delhi. We came from Kochi yesterday. The humidity here is not so high as it was in Kochi and Goa. So it is better for my players. That's why we are happy to play against Colombia," said Wueck.
After the humiliating loss of 4-0 to Iran in the second group game in Kochi, the coach accepted that the Persians were the best team on the night and he failed to see a way out against them.
"Iran was better. We had a black Monday on that day. Iran is a very good team, very strong and compact and we had no ideas for the whole 90 minutes to get through them. So it was the situation of the best team having won," said Wueck.
The coach clarified that they do wish to win the title but their first aim is to develop these players for the senior national team.
"In Germany, our first aim is to develop the players to get into the first team, so it is important for the players to play in a World Cup and get an impression of the fans and other teams. And if we are strong enough to win the games, then it is a very good education for our players," said Die Mannschaft under-17 coach.
Wueck feels Colombians are among the teams who were always expected to reach this stage and he is expecting a tough fight on Monday.
"I think they (Colombia) made a very good team for the World Cup that's why they are here. They played in a very competitive group, so we are expecting a very close game tomorrow. Colombia has very fast players, very strong players and we have to give our best like we did against Guinea," said Wueck.
South American coach Orlando Restrepo, on the other hand, said they tweaked their formation to beat the USA and is devoting his time to studying Germany's weaknesses to beat them. "We are following competitive strategy to play against all the teams. In case of United States we came up with a formation 3-4-1-2 and it served us well, so we are working to find a good strategy against the Germans too. We are reading them closely and will change things as the match requires, but our philosophy won't change," said Restrepo.
The team arrived for the tournament early, before any other team to acclimatise to the Indian conditions but they suffered a 1-0 loss against mighty Ghana and somehow managed a win through a late goal against the host nation India. A handsome 3-1 win against USa brought them back in the competition. The coach believed that unpredictability in the formation and a good strategy was the reason for their comeback.
"In first two matches we started slowly but change in formation and coming up with a proper strategy against the US was the main reason why our plan worked against the US and it gave the boys their confidence back," said Restrepo.
Filled with confidence after two back-to-back victories, Colombian goalkeeper Nicolas Gomez felt that Germans are a natural threat inside the box but he is confident with his defence to deal with them.
Germans are very physical and strong inside the box and are capable of creating a lot of problem for us with that characteristic but we also have a very strong defence, so I feel it won't be a problem for us to deal with them."
Going back to Restrepo, the coach feels he got a fairly talented side with him in this World Cup and they are all prepared to play for the senior team. "All the junior teams are prepared to play for the senior team. And playing in a tournament like this makes them better prepared for the senior national team selection.”