New Delhi: The All India Football Federation (AIFF), on Wednesday, appointed former Sporting Lisbon director of sports Luis Norton de Matos as the new head coach of the India U-17 football side.
India, a country where cricket has overshadowed most of the other sports, is on the threshold of having the attention of the entire football world on it, as the nation gets set to host the FIFA U-17 World Cup, late this year.
De Matos, who graduated from the Benfica academy, went on to play in the Portuguese top flight for clubs like Estoril, Atletico Clube de Portugal, and Belenenses. He also played in the Belgian top flight club Standard Liege, helping the side attain the second spot on the table in his second season.
The 63-year-old had his only coaching stint in top flight European football with Victoria Setubal in Portugal, and later went on to become the sporting director of Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon.
De Matos was impressed by AIFF’s vision for the U-17 World Cup, to be held later this year.
“My role will be to orchestrate everything wherein the players will be playing their part,” he said in a press release. “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.”
AIFF president Praful Patel praised de Matos for his work in Portugal, and said that the Portuguese will “leave no stone unturned”, as they try to build their team up ahead of the U-17 World Cup.
“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,” said Patel. “I expect him to guide our boys to put up a strong performance in the World Cup.”
De Matos takes over the coaching role in the U-17 Indian national team just a few months ahead of the U-17 World Cup, after his predecessor Nicolai Adam was asked to leave, amid reports of mistreatment of the players.
Interestingly de Matos admitted that he has a deep-rooted Indian connection. He said, “I do have an Indian connection as my great grandfather was born in Goa.”
