Want to top group by winning all games, says Germany U-17 coach Wuck

Margao, Oct 6 (IANS) Germany coach Christian Wuck wants his colts to top Group C ahead of their FIFA Under-17 World Cup opener against Costa Rica at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.

Germany have made 10 appearances in the tournament but are yet to win the coveted crown.

"Our first aim is to win against Costa Rica, Iran and Guinea and top the group in order to qualify for the knock out round," said Wuck.

"Players like Jann-Fiete Arp, Elias Abouchabaka and Dennis Jastrzembski who will be in action on Saturday are billed as the ones who will take up the mantle from illustrious names like Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos," added the former Bundesliga player.

Germany have appeared at five U-17 World Cups, which includes a fourth-placed finish in Egypt in 1997. Furthermore, the German Democratic Republic reached the last eight at Scotland 1989.

The greatest success enjoyed by a German team at an U-17 World Cup was at the inaugural tournament in China in 1985, where they finished as runners-up.

Germany performed as a compact unit throughout the entire qualifying campaign and recorded seven victories from as many games up until the European Championship semi-final, scoring 36 goals and conceding just six.

The only time they failed to hit the target was in their last-four clash with eventual champions Spain, who won 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

Costa Rica, on the other hand, had a training session at two different grounds during the last two days.

This will be their 10th appearance in this tournament with the most successful period coming between 2001 and 2007, when they reached the knock-out stage on every occasion.

Costa Rica won all four games as hosts of the central American qualifying zone to reach the 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship on a hot streak.

Once at Panama 2017, they coasted through the initial group stage, with another 100 percent record, defeating Cuba, Canada and Suriname to reach the classification round.

Despite suffering a heavy 1-6 defeat at the hands of eventual champions Mexico, Los Ticos finished second courtesy of their slender 2-1 win over Panama, and in the process advanced to India 2017.

"The boys are ready to give their best to win on Saturday," coach Camacho Viquez, who took the reins of his country's U-17 side in 2016, said.

Squads:

Germany: Luca Plogmann, Alexander Nitzl, Pascal Hackethal, Dominik Becker, Jan Boller, Noah Awuku, Shaverdi Catin, Eric Majetshcek, Jan-Fiete ARP, Elias Abouchabaka, Nicolas Kuehn, Luis Klatte, Dennis Jastrzembski, Yannik Keitel, Kilian Ludewig, Lars Mai, maurice Malone, John Yeboah, Jessic Ngankam, Yann Bisseck and Marian Prins.

Costa Rica: Ricardo Montenegro, Andres Hernandez, Fernan Faerron, Karin Arce, Amferny Arias, Wabter Cortes, Morio Mora, Christian Munoz, Julen Cordero, Greivin Fonseca, Felipe Flores, Jose Alfaro, Brandon Calvo, Ronnier Bustomante, Josre Abarca, Andres Gomez, Yecxy Jarquin, Kevin Chamorro, Sebastian Castro, Alexander Roman and Daniel Chaon.

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