U-17 World Cup: US dangerous for us, says Paraguay coach

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) Paraguay coach Gustavo Morinigo on Sunday said the United States will be a tough side to face in the Round-of-16 fixture of the FIFA U-17 World Cup at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here on Monday.

Paraguay kept a 100 per cent record in the Group stages defeating Mali, New Zealand and Turkey to qualify for the second round.

The US, on the other hand, defeated India and Ghana, but lost to Colombia in the last match of the group stage before qualifying for the knock-out stage.

"The US is really a complicated team, the individuals, the captain himself, it has one of the best players and the team is really good," Morinigo told reporters.

"It is really dangerous for us, the team in Group of 16 and we really respect that," the 40-year-old added.

After maintaining a winning streak in the Group fixtures, Morinigo said the knock-out stage will be the real challenge for his wards and they are ready to face it.

"It was a difficult group, but this (Round of 16) is where the game begins," the Paraguay coach said.

Morinigo said his side has been practicing for the last one year to maintain their style of play rather getting influenced by the Europeans.

"We have been practising for the last one year about that, not only the technical stuff has been focused on, mentally they have been prepared because of the concentration and behaviour of the players," the coach said.

"The players are playing for the colour of their county and that has kept them focused," Morinigo added.

The South American coach confessed adapting to Indian conditions were tough.

"It was eight-and-half hour difference between Paraguay and India... we have lunch at different time, we had to take lunch at seven in the morning to get accustomed to the time-zones," he added.

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